Destiny
by negative 97
Summary: With the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy nearing victory in the war, the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe, struggle to hold them off while trying to gain some sort of foothold on the battlefront. Wrapped up in this conflict is Yumi, a young Fire Nation noble who wants to help the war effort; unfortunately for her, she gets her wish.
1. Chapter 1 Inside the Fire

Ch. 1

Inside the Fire

 _Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me_

Sucking in a breathe, a young girl punched the air twice and finished with a front kick causing three yellow fireballs to fly out of her fists and foot and sail towards practice dummies dressed up in Water Confederacy and Earth Imperium uniforms. The insignia for the former bore resemblance to what used to be the old emblem of the Northern Water Tribe, but now had the added features of two spears crossed in an x and the roaring, ferocious maw of a polar bear dog. The emblem for the latter had what used to be the Earth Kingdom's symbol, but it was underneath Chin the Conqueror's boot who was triumphantly holding his fist up in the air with badger moles at either side of him glaring at everything and everyone. Sighing when she saw that her flames had only caused small fires on the practice dummies, the young girl sat down crossed legged and considered what she had done wrong. Her form was perfect, at least that's what her firebending teacher told her, and she released the flames on the exhale like she had been taught, so what was going on? The girl was shaken out of her stupor when her komodo rhino walked up to her and gently knocked her onto the ground making her laugh as the beast of burden stood over her.

"Hi Yang, it's business as usual. I have the technique down, but I just can't seem to muster enough power," the noble girl remarked while gesturing with her head at the practice dummies causing the komodo rhino to trudge over to them and impale one of them on her horns, smack another dummy's head clean off with her tail, and cave the last dummy's head in by rearing up and forcing all of her weight down onto it with her foot.

"Yang, dad can only get so many of these uniforms from the front!" the girl protested to which the beast of burden snorted as she nibbled on same grass while her rider walked over to the shed, grabbed new practice dummies wearing the uniforms of the enemy, and set them up.

"Okay, righteous fury. Righteous fury," the noble girl murmured as she used the anger from her many failings to produce fire...which caused the flames to come out in the same yellow hue as last time.

"Ugh, what's it going to take!?" the girl roared as she swung her fist in a wild haymaker at one of the practice dummies causing an orange burst of fire to fly out of her fist and collide with the dummy, burning it to cinders. Instead of being happy, the young firebender instead sighed heavily, ran a hand over her face, and paced around with her hands on her hips.

"Great, now if only I could do that all the time," the young firebender groaned as she was about to continue with target practice anyway until Yang lumbered in front of the practice dummies, faced her rider, and crouched down as if she were going to charge. Instead of being terrified as any other person would be, the young firebender just pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a soft breathe.

"Yang, for the millionth time, I'm not going to practice my firebending against you! Not now, not ever," the noble girl stated in a tone of finality to the komodo rhino, but all this made the beast of burden do was paw the ground, release a guttural snort, and give her rider a look that all but said "Don't assume you can hurt me with it in the first place." Before the young firebender could tell her komodo rhino to stand aside, Yang charged causing the noble girl to ready herself as she waited for just the right moment before jumping in the air and landing on Yang's middle horn was which was pointed away from her rider. The instant she did this, however, Yang tossed her aside with a quick swing of her head, sending the young firebender flying, and landing on the grass with a rough thud. Grunting, the noble girl got onto all fours and heard thunderous footsteps charging toward her from behind causing her to simultaneously spin out of the way of Yang's charge and kicked out at the komodo rhino's foot like she was going to sweep it. Yang, however, lifted her foot out of the way, causing her rider's limb to hit nothing but empty air, and smacked her rider with a restrained, but firm slap of her tail with a twist of her hips. Wheezing, the noble girl was sent uncontrollably tumbling across the ground like a stone across a pond before coming to a halt on her side where she had to take a moment to gather herself. Seeing Yang crouching down to initiate another charge, the young firebender climbed to her feet and got herself into a ready position.

"Alright, you asked for it!" the young girl shouted as she sent a yellow fireball sailing toward the beast of burden by punching the air...only for Yang to plow right through it as if it were wet paper with nary a flinch or cry of pain. Gasping, the young firebender jumped out of the way while discharging two more streams of fire at the beast of burden by throwing a roundhouse kick and side kick before gracefully landing on the ground. With a contemptuous snort, Yang dissipated both fire blasts with a swipe of her tail and gave her rider a look that said "That's the spirit." before barreling toward the young firebender at breakneck speed. Preparing to dive out of the way of another charge, the young firebender gasped when Yang abruptly stopped in her tracks as if she anticipated such an action and tried to loop her tail around her rider's waist like a serpent.

Jumping out of the way and landing on the beast of burden's saddle, the firebender managed to get out a single fire blast before she was forced to metaphorically abandon ship when the komodo rhino flipped onto her side. Landing on the ground and rolling with the impetus, the noble girl was on her feet in an instant and double punched the air, sending out a forceful stream of fire at Yang while she was lying on her back. Grunting, the beast of burden rolled out of the way of the flames and whipped her tail out, striking the back of her rider's Achilles tendon. Yelping, the young firebender fell backwards and landed on her spine with a thud, making her groan, and saw the komodo rhino charging toward her again. Rolling to her feet, the firebender discharged another fire bolt which Yang plowed through as if it weren't even there before jumping in the air and front flipping with her lead leg extended.

Bringing the heel of her foot crashing down on Yang's forehead when she came down for a landing, the firebender heard her beast of burden grunt before the komodo rhino wrapped her tail around her rider's waist and tossed her to the ground. Righting herself, the young firebender rolled with the momentum, came to a stop on one knee, and discharged a bolt of fire at her komodo rhino by punching the air which Yang dissipated with a headbutt and then made a mock charge at her rider. When the young firebender instinctively backpedaled and shot another fire ball at her, the komodo rhino withered the blow and placed one of her horns in between her rider's legs while hooking the upper two underneath the firebender's armpits. With a quick tug of her head, the firebender was chucked aside with a gasp and landed face first on the grass where she saw stars and lay in a heap on her belly. As her rider lay in a daze, Yang, with a snort, laid down on the young girl while being careful not to force her full weight down on her rider which elicited nothing more than annoyed huff from the young firebender.

"How am I supposed to serve my country against the Earth Imperium and Water Confederacy if I can't even beat you?" the firebender asked to which Yang grunted as she got off of her rider when the young girl patted her side twice. Instead, the komodo rhino sat behind her, letting her rider lay down against her bulk and resting her giant head against the firebender's leg and placing her tail around her rider like a blanket. Patting Yang's head, the young girl looked up at the sky and thumped her fingers against the komodo rhino's tail. With Fire Lord Azulon recently lifting the restriction on women serving on the front lines, her dream of serving in cavalry unit with Yang was in reach. She didn't care if she was deployed to the icy, grueling tundra of the North and South Pole or the hard, unforgiving terrain of the Earth Imperium, so long as she got to serve! That's what they were taught in school, right? To help the Fire Nation anyway they could? And if she was recognized as some sort of hero when she retired, then great, but if not, then oh well; at least she did her part. However, those dreams would be dashed if she couldn't even muster strong enough flames and with that in mind, thumped Yang's forehead and gestured at the practice dummies. Grunting, the komodo rhino got onto her feet and motioned for her rider to get on which the firebender did with a deft jump onto the saddle and secured her feet into the stirrups.

"Okay Yang, let's take this slow," the young girl said causing the komodo rhino to break out into a jogging pace towards the remaining practice dummies.

"A little faster now," the young girl ordered causing the beast of burden to release a puff of air from her nostrils and hastened her pace to near running speeds causing the girl to nervously grit her teeth and take her feet out of the stirrups.

"This is good; keep this pace up," the young girl commanded to which the beast of burden grunted as the firebender stood up on the saddle and took a firebending stance where she sucked in a breathe and jumped toward one of the targets on the exhale. With good form, the young girl twisted in midair, coated her foot in weak, yellow fire, and attempted to kick the target across its face...only for her gut to impact a tree branch she forgot was there. Wheezing, the young girl fell toward the ground, but luckily Yang wrapped her tail around her rider's waist and used her bulk to lessen the fall damage. However, when Yang gently set the young girl on the ground, she promptly laid down on her again while making sure not to force her full weight down on her.

"Yang, get your fat butt off of me!" the young girl groaned to which Yang snorted and laid her head down on top of her rider's face causing the girl to turn her head to the side while not even attempting to free her trapped limbs. Sighing, the young girl closed her eyes and tried to take a nap as she knew Yang would move...eventually.

"Yumi, Yumi! Where are you?" the young girl heard her mother call out causing Yumi to yell that she was with Yang which made the young girl hear a chorus of footsteps rushing toward her.

"Here!" the young firebender hollered causing the distressed parent to run around the backyard in search of her daughter and came to a stop in front of Yang where all she saw was the komodo rhino lazing around.

"Where, I don't see you!" Yumi's mother cried out which made Yumi chuckle softly as she could already imagine what her mother was going to say.

"I'm here," Yumi shouted causing her mother to run in front of the komodo rhino and widened her eyes when she saw her daughter's head poking out from underneath Yang's girth.

"Get off her, you unruly beast!" Yumi's mother shouted at Yang and if the komodo rhino was capable of such a thing, Yang would have rolled her eyes as she got up and sat down next to her rider.

"That settles it; we're selling that monster and getting you an ostrich horse instead," Yumi's mother informed the young girl causing Yumi to fervently shake her head and protectively wrap her arms around Yang's neck prompting the komodo rhino to nuzzle her rider's cheek.

"No, please! I like Yang and she likes me too!" Yumi wailed causing her mother to fold her arms and glance at her daughter before shifting her gaze over to Yang who had wrapped her tail around the young girl's waist.

"I'll let you keep her, but I'm hiring someone to help you rear this beast," the young girl's mother informed her which made Yumi pout as her mother beckoned for her to follow her. Raising a brow, Yumi patted Yang on the head and gestured for her to return to her stable causing the komodo rhino to lick her rider's cheek before walking away to do just that as the young firebender caught up to her mother.

"Is something wrong, Mother?" Yumi concernedly inquired and to her relief, her mother shook her head as they entered their home where their servants bowed to them prompting the duo to return the gesture.

"Nothing serious, it's just that Prince Ozai is hosting a party and your father's presence is mandatory which means that by unfortunate proxy, so is ours. He's claiming it's to raise funds to help support our military and to raise awareness about the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy, but I think this is just a stunt to curry favor with Fire Lord Azulon," Yumi's mother explained causing the young girl to resist the great, overwhelming urge to groan and instead just sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips.

"I'll go get ready," Yumi reluctantly conceded causing her mother to smile at her and kneel down where she pulled the young girl in for a hug making Yumi grin and return the embrace.

"Thank you for being so patient about this," Yumi's mother said causing the young girl to nod before as she walked upstairs and returned to her quarters where she began rummaging through her closet to find something to wear.

"Okay, I want to look nice, but I also want to be comfortable. Let's see if we can find that happy medium," Yumi muttered as she found a crimson cheongsam causing the young girl to rub her chin and stare at the dress long and hard before beginning to disrobe.

"Mistress, your mother asked me to help you get ready. May I come in?" a servant asked from outside the door causing Yumi to shake her head as she put on her dress.

"It's alright, I'm pretty much done already. Could you please get Tozen to help me with my hair?" Yumi politely requested causing the servant to voice their affirmative and walk away as the young girl put on an ornate, crimson necklace with a shard of obsidian in the center around her neck.

"Mistress, it's Tozen. Is it alright to come in?" the servant asked causing the young girl to say yes prompting Tozen to enter the room and bow to Yumi who returned the gesture before sitting down in front of a mirror.

"So, what would you like me to do?" Tozen inquired causing the young girl to put a hand on her chin and stare up at the ceiling as if it would provide the answer.

"Could you tie my hair into a braid, please?" Yumi requested causing the servant to dutifully nod and go about styling his young mistress's hair who handed him a hair accessory which resembled the Fire Nation insignia.

"So, how's your firebending training going?" Tozen asked causing the young girl to groan as she held her hand out and conjured a small, pathetically weak yellow flame.

"It's going, just not the way I want it to. I've got the forms and motions down, but this is the only kind of fire I've been able to produce," Yumi whined causing the servant to nod as he continued to meticulously style the young girl's hair.

"What's your sifu been teaching you?" Tozen questioned causing Yumi to prop her elbow against her desk and place her chin atop her palm where she scowled at the mirror as if it had wronged her.

"Sifu Zhe made sure I learned proper breathe control before moving onto the forms and motions of firebending, but it's just that he keeps saying to use anger, but I don't really have anything to be mad at," Yumi answered and were it not unprofessional of him, Tozen would have rolled his eyes and spat every curse under the sun at his young mistress's so called sifu.

"Yumi, is it alright if I give you some advice? You don't have to use anger to fuel your firebending; other emotions like joy or hope will suffice," Tozen advised Yumi who raised a brow, but nodded nonetheless.

"Oh...um...okay. That's good to know," Yumi replied as Tozen finished tying the young girl's hair and placed the accessory at the tip causing the young girl to examine her hairstyle and smile jubilantly.

"Thank you, Tozen," Yumi gratefully told her servant while bowing to him prompting Tozen to grin and return the gesture as they both suddenly heard the young girl's mother shouting at her to come along. Leaving her room, Yumi saw her father, a gigantic beast of a man standing 6'7 and weighing 360 pounds, standing in the living room with her mother with his gada resting on his shoulder.

"Ready to go, Little Dragon?" Yumi's father remarked light-heartedly causing the young girl to huff indignantly as she and her family exited the house and got in the fancy carriage waiting for them outside.

"I'm not little," Yumi scoffed as she sat down next to her father where she looked like an ant next to him causing her mother to laugh softly as she sat across from them.

"I only meant it to refer to the size of your flames-"

"Ugh!" Yumi scowled as she folded her arms and turned away from her father where she along with her parents were unaware of the pursuers discreetly following them from the street corners.

"Send a messenger hawk ahead; the targets are in sight and heading towards the blind spot," one of the pursuers ordered causing her cohort to furiously scribble the message down and put it in the cylinder where the hawk took off high into the sky so as to not arouse suspicion.

"When we're done, Prince Ozai will be robbed of one his best fighters and his forces will be sent into disarray," one of the assassins muttered excitedly causing his comrade to smirk before motioning for his comrade to follow him where they went around a corner jumped onto the roof of a building.

"Provided the plan is properly executed," the leader stated as hopped to the next roof and then to the next one with his comrade in tow all while making sure that they were out of sight as meanwhile, Yumi absentmindedly looked out the window with her elbow propped against the wall. When looking at the concrete jungle, Yumi would sometimes lock eyes with one of their escorts prompting the bodyguard to politely dip their heads causing Yumi to return the gesture before going blankly looking at her surroundings. Just as she was about to nod off, Yumi widened her eyes when she saw a whole group of Water Confederacy warriors with their limbs bound by taut chains being led down the ramp of a ship. Leaning forward, Yumi winced when she saw the foreman whip a lash of flames across the back of a prisoner leaving a gnarly, pitch black burn mark on their back which leaked blood. Glaring at the foreman, Yumi continued to watch this spectacle and grimaced when one of the soldiers launch a fireball at the feet of a particularly unruly prisoner causing the man to scream in pain and collapse on the ground where his feet were burnt to a bloody, blistering crisp.

"Mother, Father, those soldiers are mistreating the prisoners!" Yumi shouted while pointing at the soldiers which brought her parent's animated conversation to an end as her parents looked out the window.

"Fire Lily, listen-"

"To what? You taught me not to abuse my power and that's exactly what those soldiers are doing! Can't you say you work with Prince Ozai to make them stop?" Yumi pleaded as she grit her teeth when saw the Water Confederacy warriors forced to walk while dragging their injured fellow behind them.

"To be honest, Prince Ozai would most likely approve of their actions," Yumi's father pointed out causing the young girl's mother to glare at her father and fold her arms making the man shrug.

"What, I'm just telling the truth," Yumi's father stated causing the young girl's mother to grumble as Yumi's father scratched the back of his head before pulling his daughter in for a hug.

"I know that was hard to see, Little Dragon, and trust me, I along with several others don't approve of their actions, but these things happen even if we don't want them to. The best we can do is try to prevent it from happening and/or punish those who act like that accordingly," Yumi's father told his daughter who nodded slowly before getting up from her chair and grabbing the knob to the door of the carriage.

"What are you doing, Fire Lily?" Yumi's mother asked worriedly causing the young girl to scratch the back of her head and look at the older woman with her head tilted.

"Well, father said the best we can do is to try and prevent something like that from happening and/or punishing those who act like bullies accordingly so I'm going to do the former," Yumi declared while opening the door to the carriage causing her father to immediately close the door and place his daughter back in her seat.

"Okay, I guess I also have to add that it's important to consider the ramifications of your actions. You don't have to do it for every little thing, but it's crucial to look before you leap," Yumi's father advised causing the young girl to stare at him with narrowed eyes before giving a barely noticeable nod in response. Before she was able to look out the window, Yumi along with her parents suddenly lurched forward when the carriage came to an abrupt halt on a strangely empty street causing her father to immediately grab his gada.

"What is it, Zi Quan?" Yumi's father called out to the point man causing the bodyguard to halt his komodo rhino right beside the carriage.

"There's a road block up ahead; don't worry, we'll go on ahead and clear it," Zi Quan assured Yumi's father who nodded as he thumped his fingers against the shaft of his mace before grasping the doorknob.

"You two stay here until we know its safe," Yumi's father ordered her and her mother as he exited the stagecoach and approached the roadblock with his bodyguards while Yumi's mother held her close and took out her butterfly swords.

"Yumi, promise me if something happens, you'll run and not look back, okay?" Yumi's mother requested while warily scanning the area causing the young girl to fervently shake her head.

"No, I won't leave you two behind!" Yumi shouted causing her mother to narrow her eyes before suddenly tackling her to the floor just as a flurry of arrows penetrated the stagecoach up making the young girl widen her eyes. Hearing a whole cacophony of footsteps suddenly flood into the area, Yumi confusedly looked around as the door was suddenly ripped open by a water tentacle controlled by an elderly man wearing a blue tunic. Gnashing her teeth, Yumi felt her mother hold her close as a swarm of hands suddenly grabbed them causing the young girl to cry out while her mother just grit her teeth as she plunged one of her blades into the gut of one of their attackers while simultaneously stabbing the knee of another of their assailants. Shrieking, the assassins tumbled out of the carriage while tightly clutching their wounds as Yumi's mother continued to slash and stab at anyone she could where one of their attackers suffered a slit throat, another was gored through the heart, and by skillfully maneuvering her blades, the next one's hand was chopped right off which made a spray of blood splatter the inside of the carriage.

As skilled as she was, there were simply too many attackers to account for as both of her butterfly swords were knocked from her hand and a water tendril tightly wrapped itself around Yumi's mother's neck making the woman retch as she was roughly pulled from the stagecoach. Reaching out to her, Yumi grit her teeth as she felt someone grab shirt collar causing her to conjure a fire dagger and stab at her attacker's gut, only to wince as her thrust was batted aside by a stiff strike to her wrist before yelping as a war fan was slammed against her nose. Feeling bone break and tasting blood as her head snapped back, Yumi couldn't help but let tears fall down her face as her arm was painfully wrenched behind her back where she was dragged out of the stagecoach. Summoning another fire dagger, Yumi tried to stab her attacker's thigh only to screech as she felt her arm being painfully yanked upward which made her unconsciously dissipate her fire dagger as she was forced onto her belly. Glaring at her assailants, she saw that she was surrounded by women dressed in green, lamellar plated kimonos, white face paint, and metallic headdresses where the one restraining her sat on her back and put her hand on the back of her head for added leverage.

"Don't do anything rash and you'll get out of this alive, okay?" the warrior restraining Yumi assured her like a kind, older sister, but all the young girl did was snarl like an armadillo lion making the onna bugeisha sigh before gesturing with her head at her partner. Nodding, the kyoshi warrior's partner, a lean, but athletically built dark skinned man wielding hook swords cupped his hands together and whistled like a bird causing the assassins who were fighting Yumi's father and his bodyguards to break off the engagement.

"Alright Lee, it's time for you to give up. We only came here to kill you, but we'll kill your wife and daughter too if that's what it takes," Yumi heard the hook sword wielder call out where she saw through her blurry vision her mother restrained by a swarm of water tendrils with a jawbone knife pressed against her throat.

"How do I know you won't just kill them after you've killed me?" Lee pointed out causing the hook sword wielder to fiddle with the piece of straw in his mouth for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, for one, the Kyoshi Warriors who're making sure your daughter behaves herself don't like seeing women get hurt, even if they are from the Fire Nation, and two, it's like I said, we're only here to kill you," the hook sword wielder responded causing Lee to growl lowly as he saw various nasty bruises marring his wife's limbs and grit his teeth when he saw a bloody gash on her forehead along with a gruesome black eye. Glancing at his daughter, Lee's blood boiled upon seeing Yumi's nose broken with blood pooling around her head like a waterfall and one of her eyes swollen shut making the warrior grip his gada so tightly his knuckles turned white. After a moment, however, Lee relaxed his grip and exhaled heavily as he let his mace fall to the ground with a thud and knelt down on the ground with his hands behind his head.

"Okay, you win. Just let them go," Lee conceded causing his bodyguards to snarl, but begrudgingly put away their weapons and step away from Lee as the hook sword wielder let out a bird like whistle for reasons only he understood. Seeing her father give himself up like a lamb to the slaughter, Yumi tightly gnashed her teeth as an intense, white hot rage over her the likes of which she never felt before. This wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to go to the party, exchange pleasantries with their hosts, go home, and be a happy family! Not having to choose between who gets to live and who gets to die! She wasn't going to let this happen, she refused! Releasing a rough, guttural breathe not unlike that of a dragon, Yumi screamed at the top of her lungs causing a deadly maelstrom of searing hot, orange flames to send her attackers violently tumbling across the ground and badly burn their flesh. Widening his eyes when the arrow flying at his forehead suddenly melted mere inches from his face, Lee could only stare at Yumi in shock for a split second before regaining his composure and picking up his gada.

Letting out a war cry, Lee charged at the assassins where he struck the waterbender who used to be restraining his wife until Yumi's flames evaporated the water he was using across the face with his club. Howling in pain, the waterbender's head violently twisted to the side where he spun around and hit the cold, unforgiving ground completely motionless where Lee then blocked a swipe at his neck from the lead assassin's hook swords. Feeling the young man yank his weapon aside, Lee followed the impetus and stepped back to avoid a swing at his gut where he floored the young man with a swift, vicious headbutt. Howling, the hook sword wielder scrambled to his feet and shook his head to and fro like a mad dog before glaring at Lee who glowered back at him as Yumi's mother picked up the jawbone blade and stepped to the side to avoid a thrust at her heart.

"Yumi, if you can hear me, run! We'll find you later!" Yumi's mother shouted at her as the young girl, who was exhausted after her show of force, to limp down the street while leaning against the wall for support after a few second's of hesitation. Noticing this, the bodyguards, Lee, and Yumi's mother did their best to keep the assassin's attention away from her as whenever one of the assassin's tried to break off the engagement to pursue Yumi, they would redouble their efforts to make sure the assassin's attention was squarely on them. Gasping as she saw an arrow being struck out of the air by a fire flechette, Yumi hobbled faster and turned the corner where she came upon the storm drain carrying the water from one part of the city to another. Feeling herself getting weaker by the moment and not having a lot of options left, Yumi fell forward into water where she coughed and sputtered as she tried to stay afloat while being roughly thrashed around by the unforgiving current. Hissing as she felt her bruised arm break while being carried downstream which allowed some of the water to go down her throat, Yumi fought to stay conscious, as she brutally collided head first against the wall causing her to feel as if a komodo rhino was stepping on her skull before everything went dark.

* * *

Yawning, a 10' tall, human like spirit with razor sharp claws, red eyes that glowed like the sun, long, crimson hair that seemed to be on fire, ornate, blue skin, and white, sturdy roots that covered her naughty bits which resembled a dress tended to the place she called home, a man-made lake of slurry. True, it didn't scream beautiful like a pristine lake, a lush forest, or a colorful field of flowers, but it was vacant and no other spirit wanted it so hey, why not? Concentrating, the spirit conjured thick, wooden vines from her being which began absorbing the polluted gunk where she sent the clean water she separated from the slurry down an isolated stream that wouldn't mix with the slurry for the humans to safely consume. Repeating this process until the sun began to go down, the spirit stopped and released a breathe as she stretched her back and rolled her shoulders.

"Time for step two," the spirit muttered as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands causing her to break down into a myriad of leaves and reform near a cliff that overlooked fishing village situated in between a heavily polluted river and a factory. Shaking her head, the spirit assumed her human visage of a tall, muscular woman with red, flowing hair that seemed to be on fire, piercing crimson eyes that seemed to be like blazing stars, and a simple, haggard, red robe that any Fire Nation peasant woman would wear.

"Dock, you there?" the spirit called out while approaching the cliff and looking down at the water where she indeed saw the renaissance man standing on his rickety raft near the docks.

"Hey there, Samsara! Nice evening were having; want to get a lift into town?" Dock asked causing Samsara to slide down the rock face, ignoring any dust, dirt, or grime that got onto her clothing, and jumped onto the raft, nearly sending the humble paddler flying into the polluted water. Despite this, Dock just laughed it off and began paddling toward the fishing village while Samsara sat down crossed legged and stared blankly into the water, seeing a whole myriad of mutated fish.

"So, is anyone on the mainland buying your...produce?" Samsara asked while plunging her hand into the water, pulling out a, big two-headed fish, and devouring it voraciously as if it were her last meal.

"For the most part, no, unfortunately. Nowadays, the only time we get visitors besides you and that noblewoman is when the folks in the military want to see what's going on with the factory," Dock lamented causing the spirit to slowly nod as she saw, when they got closer to the fishing village, that there were some people catching the purified water she sent down to them in huge pots, making a grin tug at the corner of her lips.

"Noblewoman?" Samsara inquired as she stepped off of the raft and followed Dock through town towards Xu's shop where, upon seeing some of the townsfolk ill, dying in their loved one's arms, or nothing but a bag of skin and bones, swore brutal vengeance on the person who ordered the factory built near this village.

"Yeah, she goes by Kosuke, if I remember correctly. She's got a big belly like a hippo cow and ten times as strong too! There were these kids playing in the cave systems near our village and the roof just came crashing down on them! We all tried to get them out, but the rocks were simply too heavy for us to move. We'd just about lost hope until she lifted these boulders the size of our houses off of the kids like some sort of...circus strongman!" Dock jovially explained as the duo arrived at his shop where Samsara put a hand on her chin, narrowed her eyes, and stared down at the floor as if it could provide the answer to what she was thinking.

 _"It couldn't be her, and if it is, is she tracking me or trying to let me know she's onto me?"_ the spirit in human guise wondered as Dock walked to the back of his store, swapped his hat for another one, and happily presented his catches to Samsara. Deciding that she needed to be sure, the spirit decided to broach the subject tactfully while trying to not make it look like she was investigating.

"What's rich snob doing in a dump like this? Oops, sorry," Samsara sheepishly apologized to Xu, but the shopkeeper just chuckled as the spirit paid for two boxes of fish and clams with the money she got off of some brigands who "cornered" her in an alley and said they were going to have some "fun" with her. She had a delightful fill of long pork that day and she got some money out of it too even if she was only going to use it in her human visage.

"I can't say, but I'm not complaining! She always bothers to travel here when she's out shopping for seafood when she could easily find a market in the city! I don't know her reasons, but her patronage is helping keep our village alive," Xu replied while pointing out a line of people standing in front of a few water filters for their drinking water, items they were able to purchase thanks to Kosuke's contribution to their economy. Screaming internally, Samsara forced a smile on her face as she grabbed her boxes of seafood while Xu walked to the back of his store, exchanged hats, and guided the spirit back to the dock.

 _"Yep, that's her. Always finds the time to help those who can't help themselves,"_ Samsara mused as she sat the raft and patiently waited as Dock paddled towards land. When they finally got onto dry land, the spirit bowed to Dock before walking away and after she was sure she was out of sight, teleported back to her domain, devoured the boxes containing the seafood she had purchased, and changed back to her true form.

"Alright, time to get something to eat," the spirit muttered as she teleported herself onto the catwalks of the factory polluting the village's river and propped her forearms against the railing while watching the workers go on with their duties.

"Hmm...slim pickings," Samsara remarked as she noted that at one time, the factory used to be filled to the brim with workers from all corners of the Fire Nation, but now the factory was reduced to a skeleton crew. The spirit knew about the human war that was raging on for the last century, but to think things had gotten this bad? She certainly felt bad for those who lost their loved ones, but also because how was she supposed to get her power high if her main sources of chi were being killed off!? It was infuriating, but for the time being the spirit pushed these thoughts aside as she focused on the strongest chi signatures among the lot where she resisted the urge to groan. The strongest felt like any of the countless rank and file soldiers who had yet to be shipped overseas, but beggars couldn't be choosers she supposed. Conjuring a swarm of thick, wooden vines around her, the spirit instantly appeared in front of a stout man carrying a stack of boxes across the factory floor where she clamped a tendril around his mouth before he could scream.

Using her other vines to hold him down so he couldn't escape, the spirit began absorbing his life essence where his wildly thrashing eventually turned into weak, ineffective struggling causing the spirit to gently set him down; she didn't want to kill anyone after all. Feeling the euphoric rush of life energy flowing through her, the spirit sighed in relief before moving onto her next target which was a security guard doing her rounds on the outskirts of the factory. Widening her eyes as the spirit appeared in front of her, the guard jumped back while simultaneously jabbing the air causing a sphere of hot fire to sail toward the spirit who blocked the blast with one of her vines while using another one to grasp the guard's face. Letting out a muffled scream, the guard fiercely pounded the vine before her grip slackened causing the spirit to set the woman down as if she were a parent putting their child to bed. Releasing a quiet, cathartic sigh as the new flood of chi flowed throughout her body, the spirit immediately moved onto her next target which was one of the many blacksmiths fine tuning the weaponry meant to be shipped overseas. Seeing the spirit suddenly pop right in front of him, the blacksmith recoiled and widened his eyes as he scrambled away from his workstation while the other blacksmiths seemed to be frozen to the spot.

"N-not you again!" the blacksmith shouted as he continued to scoot away from the spirit until his back hit the wall causing him to instinctively put his hands in front of his face while the spirit just smiled and nodded.

"Yep, here I am!" the spirit jubilantly replied as she grasped his shoulder with her vines while casually blocking any fire blasts hurtling toward her from the security guards as she began draining the blacksmith's life energy.

"Why are you doing this?" the blacksmith asked as he felt himself getting weaker by the second as the spirit continued to block any orbs of flames hurtling toward her and gently smacked an overzealous security guard aside when she dared to get close.

"I just like the feeling of euphoria I get whenever I do this," the spirit explained with a simple shrug as she released the blacksmith once she saw his legs beginning to wobble where he crumpled to the floor completely exhausted.

"Thank you as always for the chi; I promise this will be the last time you see me," the spirit told the gathered humans before disappearing in a plume of leaves leaving the workers simultaneously on edge that they weren't able to stop her, but relieved that spirit's victims were just exhausted, not dead. Sighing as she reappeared in her lake of slurry, the spirit brushed back some of her hair and put a hand on her chin as she contemplated her next move. True to her word, she didn't intend to go the factory any longer given that she only got the bare minimum of chi this week and the weeks before this one along with the fact that one of her enemies undoubtedly figured out her general location, but where could she go? Trying to etch out a living in the lands of the Water Confederacy and was a no go as she didn't want to face a horde of shamans that could disrupt the energies withing her being and it stood to reason that the Earth Imperium had developed something similar thanks to their alliance.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up like the stars in the night sky as she dematerialized in a spray of leaves and reformed in her human visage in an alley of a town on the docks. Scanning left and right, the spirit smiled as she saw her human friend, a stocky, dark skinned young woman with sharp, amber eyes and black hair exiting the belly dancing club she worked at where another woman suddenly approached her, military or domestic forces Samsara assumed. Holding back until their conversation was finished, the spirit approached them when her friend and the woman bowed to each other while ignoring the jaw dropping stares people were giving toward her shining, crimson hair. When she was mere inches from her friend, Samsara smiled mischievously, crept up to her companion, and reached her hand out to her shoulder.

"Felt you coming from a mile away, Samsara," the spirit's friend calmly stated while grabbing her wrist without even turning around causing the apparition to shrug nonchalantly as, after her friend let her go, sat on the guardrail with her hands behind her head.

"Oh trust me, you won't feel me coming if I don't want you too. So, who was that just now?" Samsara asked causing her friend to look at her with blank, grayed out eyes, grab her shoulder, and pull the spirit towards her.

"She's a guard on leave from the Boiling Rock; wanted to have some one on one time with me so I invited her to my house a few days from now," the blind woman quietly elaborated causing Samsara to raise a brow and nod slowly.

"Uh...okay...but I thought the Fire Nation-"

"If she gets caught, I told her to tell the military tribunal that she knows she did wrong, never mean to disrespect our country's traditions, and was just experimenting against her better judgment. It's what I said when I got caught and they still allowed me to serve since I was deemed salvageable," the blind woman lightly interrupted causing the spirit to purse her lips, admiring her friend's cleverness, and stared at the vast expanse of ocean where she saw some ships coming into port with bands of rowdy sailors coming ashore.

"Cheating the system? I'm proud of you; so, are you going to provide any...extras during your session?" Samsara asked causing the blind woman to glare daggers the spirit who held up her hands in a placating gesture.

"Never on the clock, but if we strike up a rapport, I might be inclined to invite her to my bedroom once I'm off the job," the spirit's friend replied calmly, but firmly causing her friend to grunt as the blind woman released her and continued to stare out towards the sea in spite knowing full well she couldn't see.

"You know, I can ask around the spirit world if they know any good surgeons if you want," the spirit offered causing her friend to grin, laugh softly, and shake her head.

"I appreciate that, but it's alright. I haven't been able to see for a while now so trying to adjust this late in my life would be too much of a hassle," Samsara's friend politely rejected causing the spirit to grunt, but nod nevertheless as her friend leaned her back against the railing and folded her arms.

"So, what brings you here?" Samsara's companion inquired while raising a brow prompting the spirit to grin and put a hand on her hip.

"The thing is, the place where I usually get my chi isn't giving me enough to satisfy me anymore so I was wondering-"

"My only conditions are that you help around the house and be discreet about your soul sucking," the spirit's companion interrupted causing Samsara to immediately nod and bow gratefully prompting her friend to return the gesture. Suddenly, the blind woman's eyes widened as she stared down and to Samsara's befuddlement, leaped into the storm drain causing the spirit to recoil and try to process what just happened.

"Hey, why'd you-"

"A little kid fell in here and from what I can feel out, they're pretty banged up," the blind woman cut off as she held the child close to her while forming claws of ice and embedding them into the wall to prevent herself and the kid from being carried downstream. Fortunately, this feat of waterbending went unnoticed to any bystanders thanks to the blind woman's arm being underwater and the relative subtly of the move as Samsara hooked her feet on the railing and reached down. Thanks to the spirit to still being a giant even in her human visage, Samsara was able to place her hands underneath her friend's armpits and pull her up while her companion melted the ice claws back to water so no one would be even more suspicious of her. Releasing a breathe, Samsara's friend stood up where the spirit's eyes widened when she saw that the child, a young girl, had a nasty gash on her forehead, a vicious bruise that swelled her eye shut, a bloody, broken nose, and a broken arm that hung limply like a rope dangling off a cliff.

"Come on, let's take her back to my place and get her fixed up," Samsara's friend stated causing the spirit to nod as she followed her comrade to her home, but perked her ears up when she heard the bystanders being to whisper among themselves.

"There wasn't even anything for her to grab onto so how'd she do that?" one passerby mused causing the spirit to silently scoff before snapping her head in the other direction as another bystander began to mutter.

"I bet she's a waterbender, there's no other explanation for it. Well, it's either that or her fat kept in her place like a rock. Maybe we should tie a boulder around her ankle and see if she stays in place," the passerby muttered to his cohort where they both laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world causing Samsara to grit her teeth, but continued walking.

"If she is a waterbender, then she's probably a spy for the Water Confederacy! She deserves to get thrown into a internment camp with the rest of the snow savages so she won't be able to hurt anyone," another bystander murmured causing Samsara to growl lowly, but the instant she took a baby step toward the passerby her friend had already gripped her arm and shook her head.

"Tell me about it and you want to know something? An old married couple use to live in that house she's in; I didn't see them that much but they were nice enough from what I saw. I bet she killed them so she could go undercover," the bystander's cohort silently replied while glaring at the blind woman and to Samsara's surprise, her friend immediately stopped in her tracks with her eyes tightly shut, her teeth grit, and her arms trembling like an earthquake.

"Zhen Liu, you okay?" Samsara carefully inquired while placing a hand on Zhen Liu's shoulder which the blind woman didn't register as she continued seething with her chest rising and falling at a rapid rate. After what seemed like an eternity, Zhen Liu let out soft breathe before silently motioning for Samsara to follow her causing the spirit to do so, but not before turning to all the bystanders who insulted her friend and holding up both middle fingers.


	2. Chapter 2 Bite the Bullet

Ch.2

Bite the Bullet

 _Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me_

"I don't understand why we have to go," Katara huffed while glaring at the open ocean as if it had wronged her as her father dismissed one of the crewmembers and approached her where he put a firm, yet gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but the Water Tribe can't beat the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy by itself which is why we need to go to this party," Chief Hakoda reasoned, but all this did was cause Katara to snarl and glare at him with red, teary eyes.

"And I would be okay with that if it weren't being hosted by Prince Ozai! You know, the man who lied to Fire Lord Azulon and said our village was part of the Water Confederacy!? The man who's partially responsible for killing Gran Gran!?" Katara roared while tightly grasping the necklace Kanna gave her causing Hakoda to say nothing as his son approached them with his arms folded.

"Let's not forget that they never apologized; all they did was send us a messenger hawk and say they made a mistake. Dad, are these really people you want to be working with?" Sokka inquired causing the chief to sigh heavily and stare at his two children with a sad, solemn look which was similar to the one he had at his mother's funeral.

"No one said this was going to be easy-"

"I mean, how do we know they aren't going to turn on us once we win the war? Maybe we should just-"

"That's enough, Sokka. Teaming up with the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy may seem like a good idea, but let's not forget they're the ones who instigated this war and that they treat their citizens with Fire Nation descent terribly," Hakoda calmly, but sternly rebuked his first born causing the fire in Sokka's eyes to ebb prompting the chief to take a deep breathe in before letting it out.

"No one said this was going to be easy, and I don't want to work with either of them as much as you two do, but sometimes we have to work with people we don't like," Hakoda pointed out causing Katara to grumble and look down at the floorboards while Sokka scoffed and balled his hands into fists.

"But Dad, a few good people doesn't make the Royal Family good as a whole. What's going to happen if Ozai is named Fire Lord instead of-"

"Ozai isn't going to succeed-"

"It doesn't matter if he does or not! We shouldn't be working with them in the-"

"That's quite enough out of both of you! Stop harassing your father and go get dressed!" Kya ordered as she emerged from the bottom deck wearing formal Water Tribe attire causing the teenagers to immediately shut up and gulp nervously before scurrying below deck.

"The children sure like to gang up on you," Kya pointed out which made her husband sigh heavily and pinch the bridge of his nose while tilting his head back as Kya grasped his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

"They're just...trying to understand what we're doing is all," Hakoda surmised causing his wife to stare at him as if he grew a second head before releasing a breathe.

"To be perfectly honest, I kind of agree with them. Kanna was such a nice woman and she died because of someone's petty ambition for the throne. Now, we have to make nice with the prince who orchestrated it and the Fire Lord who ordered it," Kya explained causing her husband to grunt as he leaned into her touch and propped his forearm against the wooden guardrail.

"Don't tell me you're turning on me too," Hakoda remarked causing Kya to laugh light-heartedly which brought a grin to the chief's face.

"Of course not, it's like you tell our boy; being a man is about knowing where you're needed the most and right now, you're needed here so you can gather more support for our men fighting the war," Kya assured him while flashing him a smile causing the chief to lightly kiss Kya's forehead.

"What would I do without you?" Hakoda asked while embracing his wife making Kya grin as she melted into his arms.

"Get your ear nagged off by Katara and Sokka," Kya joked causing her husband to chuckle as they both watched the water illuminated by the bright moonlight gently thrash about.

* * *

"Where is that reprobate?" Ozai snarled as the first wave of guests handpicked by members of the Royal Family began to arrive at the palace where they all formally bowed to them. Prince Iroh, Prince Princess Ursa, and Prince Zuko all made sure to return the gesture while Prince Ozai and Princess Azula snubbed their noses at them despite being the hosts. Fire Lord Azulon, for his part, indifferently glanced at the guest whenever they bowed to him while sipping a cup of tea on his palanquin.

"Whomever do you mean?" Ursa inquired causing the mad prince to glare at her over his shoulder, but due to being used to this, the princess just calmly stared back at him making Ozai snort.

"Lee, he should have been the first one here, but he's not. I swear he and his family will suffer the consequences if he doesn't show himself soon," Ozai growled which made his young son nervously scratch the back of his head causing his mother to put a hand on his shoulder while Iroh attempted to ease the tension.

"The party has just begun, Ozai. Just be patient, I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later," Iroh assured his brother who narrowed his eyes at him, but the Dragon of the West took this in stride.

"Of course you would give him a pass for his tardiness, I bet you're even looking forward to seeing his failure of a daughter perform her pitiful excuse of firebending," Ozai snapped causing Azula chuckle while Iroh just sighed before staring at his brother with a calm, stern gaze.

"Yumi is merely a late bloomer and her performances are most enjoyable even though she can't produce fire on a large scale," Iroh coolly retorted causing his brother to sneer as the Dragon of the West politely bowed to more arriving guests while Ozai didn't give them the time of day.

"I didn't know you were one to celebrate weakness, brother," Ozai spat with Azula glaring at Iroh in support of her father which made the Dragon of the West resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'm not condoning it, I just find it admirable that she's able to make due with what she has which is similar to Zuko in a way," Iroh replied while narrowing his eyes ever so slightly causing the mad prince's brow to scrunch and his lips to curl into a frown.

"Whatever it is you're trying to say, just say it," Ozai stated with a cool, razor sharp edge to his tone of voice, but Iroh was unperturbed as he merely folded his arms in the sleeves of his garments.

"I'm just saying that what Zuko lacks in raw skill and natural talent, he more than makes up for with creativity and the drive to improve himself. As his father, these are traits you should be fostering, but instead you foolishly disregard them," Iroh admonished causing the mad prince to glower at him and if their father wasn't nearby, he would have challenged Iroh to an Agni Kai right then and there.

"Don't lecture me on how to rear my chil-"

"Iroh is right, Ozai. Perhaps if you had properly tutored your first born, he wouldn't be as weak as he is now," Azulon sharply cut off while taking another sip from his tea causing the mad prince to grunt as he turned to face his father while Zuko grumbled and rubbed his arm.

"Love you too, grandfather," Zuko quietly muttered causing Ursa to gently elbow her son as Ozai scowled at the Fire Lord, but Azulon merely frowned and took another drink from his tea cup.

"I am faultless regarding Zuko's weak-"

"You are, but you want to deny that to save face. The truth of the matter is that unlike your brother, you didn't properly manage your resources," Azulon bluntly cut off, not caring whether the guests heard this familial dispute or not, causing the people arriving at the party to awkwardly bow to the Royal Family while trying not to maintain eye contact. Growling under his breathe, Ozai turned his back on Azulon without saying a word as to everyone's shock, Lee finally got to the party with various bruises, slashes, and scrape marks marring his body. Respectfully bowing to Ozai and then to the rest of the Royal Family, Lee prostrated himself before the mad prince with his gada laying down in front of him while dipping his head.

"Prince Ozai, please forgive me for-"

"I don't want your apology, I want to know why you're looking like that and if you were followed," Ozai spat causing Lee to sigh deeply and reluctantly lift his head up so he could stare at the mad prince dead in the eye.

"Of course, sir. On our way to the Royal Palace, my family and I were ambushed by assassins who intended to take me out and though my wife and I managed to fight them off, they are now missing. I can, however, say that I wasn't followed as most of the assassins could barely walk after our skirmish and the handful who could fled to the docks," Lee answered as quickly and methodically as he could causing Ozai to snort while Iroh, Ursa, and Zuko gave the clearly worried, exhausted man a sympathetic look.

"Lee, I admire your dedication to your job, but you should be out there looking for your daughter, not here. After all, this only a party, and if more pressing matters take precedence, then we'll all understand why you need to leave" Iroh sagely advised the warrior who said nothing as he briefly stared at the Dragon of the West before hesitantly looking at Ozai who shifted his gaze between his brother and then his father. With a derisive scowl, Ozai dismissed Lee off with a wave of his hands causing the warrior to widen his eyes while Iroh grumbled, but said nothing as Lee picked up his gada.

"I...t-thank you, thank you very much, Prince Ozai," Lee gratefully told the mad prince before bowing to him causing Ozai and Azula to snort as the giant walked out of the palace as fast as his legs could carry him. Waiting until his warrior left, Ozai glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye to see something, anything that would indicate he approved of what he did. However, instead of getting a quick nod of approval like Iroh usually got, the mad prince just got a contemptuous, annoyed gaze which made Ozai scowl ever so slightly.

"Is Yumi going to be okay?" Zuko concernedly asked his mother causing his sister to roll her eyes as Ursa put a consoling hand on his shoulder and brought him in for a hug.

"Yumi may be the weakest, scratch that, is the weakest firebender I know which is saying something as she has you to contend with, but if nothing else, she's resourceful. She'll turn up and if she doesn't, she'll at least take some of the assassins down with her," Azula stated both to belittle and to attempt to console her older brother, but all this accomplished was causing her mother to shoot her a disapproving glance and Iroh to narrow his eyes. Before anyone could respond, however, a member of the Royal Procession entered the palace and bowed to the Royal Family before speaking to the mad prince.

"Prince Ozai, the Water Tribe Delegation has arrived," the elite firebender informed the prince causing Ozai to snort and dismiss the bodyguard who bowed before walking away as Iroh smiled widely upon hearing this.

"Chief Hakoda and his family are here? Excellent, perhaps they'll be up for some tea and a sporting game of Pai Sho?" Iroh mused while rubbing his chin which broke some of the tension as Zuko couldn't help but chuckle while Ursa let a grin tug at the corner of her lips, but as usual Ozai just scowled at his brother's antics.

"And since Prince Zuko is nearly an adult, perhaps he could get better acquainted with the Chief's daughter?" Iroh suggested with a mischievous grin while playfully nudging the young prince with his elbow making Zuko blush heavily and rub the back of his head while Ozai pursed his lips; that wasn't a bad idea.

"Uncle, please, she's just a friend," the young prince replied which made Azula laugh mockingly while Ozai was mentally preparing as to how to go about getting his son and the snow savage's daughter together

"Go drink and make merry all you want, brother. I, along with Azula, will be doing actual work," Ozai remarked, but to his annoyance Iroh ignored the insult as he bowed to Chief Hakoda and his family who were more than happy to return the gesture to the Dragon of the West.

* * *

"I should tie a boulder to that one guy's leg and see if he stays in place when I drop him in the middle of the ocean!" Samsara growled as Zhen Liu opened the door to her home with her hips and set the young girl down on the couch. From there, she knelt down next to the young firebender and placed her hand on the young girl's forehead.

"Ugh, she's burning up which means she probably got an infection. Could you get my medical supplies on the top drawer above the counter?" Zhen Liu requested prompting the spirit to nod as she jogged over to the counter and retrieved the medical bag while the blind woman was cleaning the young girl's wounds by slowly bending water from a nearby gourd over the injuries.

"This kind of like when you were nurse?" Samsara inquired while handing the bag to her friend who opened it and thanks to already being familiar with its layout, was able to retrieve the gauze and bandages from their pouches nigh instantaneously.

"No, I dealt more with limbs that got blown off or arrows that went through bone so this is a nice change of pace," Zhen Liu quipped as she bent the bloodied water into a nearby bowl and then repeating the process where she bent the next set of bloodied water into the same bowl. Unfurling the gauze and ripping off a few pieces of it, Zhen Liu put water onto the dressings and froze it before placing the first one on the gash on the girl's forehead and the next one on her swollen eye. Grabbing the bandages, the waterbender wrapped some of them around the dressing on the young girl's forehead while Samsara bound some of them around the dressing on the kid's eye. Thanking the spirit, Zhen Liu took a deep breathe in and let it back out before touching the girl's broken arm where she grimaced upon feeling the terrible state the limb was in.

"Okay, let's get on with the hard stuff," Zhen Liu murmured as she gently grabbed the girl's broken arm causing the kid to whimper like a hurt wolf pup while Samsara reached into her friend's bag and handed her two metal pipes the length of a forearm. Gratefully nodding, Zhen Liu put the girl's broken arm atop her chest and placed the metal pipes around the limb where she carefully began wrapping bandages around the appendage, the pipes, and over her shoulder. Tying two bandages around the girl's bicep and then around her waist to immobilize the limb, the young girl's arm was wrapped in a rigid, yet comfortable splint which still allowed her to grip things with her hand. Suddenly, the young girl began to stir which made Samsara raise a brow while Zhen Liu blankly watched on as the young girl's eyes fluttered open. Groaning, the girl sat up while clutching her head where she jolted and scooted to the edge of the couch upon seeing the spirit and the waterbender.

"Where am I and who are you!? Are you with those assassins who attacked my family?" the young girl shrieked as she conjured a fire dagger in her trembling hand which, to Samsara's great amusement, had a primarily yellowish tint to it.

"We're not assassins, Panda Lily. My name is Zhen Liu and this is my friend, Samsara; we found you floating around in the storm drain and brought you back to my home on the docks," Zhen Liu explained and to abate the doubts in the girl's mind, opened the door of which revealed Fire Nation cruisers in port and soldiers on leave making merry with one another. Shifting her gaze from Zhen Liu and Samsara, the girl dissipated her fire dagger and laid back down on the couch where she touched her broken nose making her grimace and tears to form at the corner of her eyes.

"Here, Panda Lily. Blow as much blood into this as you can," Zhen Liu ordered while handing the young girl a strip of bandage causing the kid to grab the cloth and hold it up to her nose before blowing into it.

"My name is Yumi, ma'am," the young girl politely stated as she placed the bloodied bandage on the table while Zhen Liu bent some water over Yumi's upper lip and cheek to clean any excess blood that happened to still be there before bending the substance into the bowl. In an instant, the previous tension that had disappeared came back with a vengeance as Yumi eyes went as wide as saucers along with feeling a cold chill go up her spine upon seeing Zhen Liu's waterbending where she scrambled away from the couch.

"Y-you're a waterbender! You were trying to goad me in a false sense of security so you could drown me in my sleep, huh!? Well, it's not going to happen!" Yumi yelled as she resummoned her fire dagger and fearfully brandished it at the two women while backing herself up against the wall where her breathing came out in terrified, frantic sputters.

"Watch your mouth! We could have left your ass in the storm drain, but we didn't so show some fucking gratitude!" Samsara spat which made Yumi recoil like a scared, wounded puppy and brandish her fire dagger at the spirit while Zhen Liu immediately glowered at her friend with gnashed teeth. Noticing Yumi's and Zhen Liu's reaction to her outburst, Samsara released a breathe before backing off as Zhen Liu slowly approached Yumi with her hands up by following her scent, the sound of her frantic breathing, and the heat emanating from her fire dagger.

"It's okay, Yumi. It's alright, we're not going to hurt you," Zhen Liu assured the young girl in a calm, soothing voice causing Yumi to uncertainly point her fire dagger at the blind woman making Samsara grit her teeth.

"Be careful, Zhen Liu!" the spirit cried out causing the waterbender to nod while continuing her cautious approach causing Yumi to frantically look for an escape, but her body refused to move as Zhen Liu was now just a few feet away.

"We just want to help, Yumi," Zhen Liu promised while keeping her tone low and serene as she reached her hands out and where one of them gently, yet firmly grasped Yumi's wrist while the other clasped her shoulder so she couldn't move and aggravate her wounds.

"Stop, okay? If we wanted to kill you, we would have left you in the storm drain, finished you off while you were unconscious, or drowned in your sleep as you feared. Now please sit down so I can finish tending to you," Zhen Liu calmly requested as Yumi uncertainly looked up at her, but after a moment sighed softly and dissipated her fire dagger.

"Yes, ma'am, sorry, ma'am," Yumi replied while dipping her head as she walked over to the couch and sat down with her back straight where Zhen Liu knelt down and placed her thumbs on both sides of her nose making the noble wince.

"Keep your head still, Panda Lily," the waterbender ordered causing Yumi to nod before tightly shutting her eyes as Samsara grunted and pursed her lips before sitting down next to the noble.

"You can squeeze my hand if it hurts," Samsara grumbled while extending her hand to Yumi causing the girl to look at the spirit confusedly before thanking her and tightly gripping her hand. Counting to three, Zhen Liu began contorting Yumi's nose in the right direction making the girl whimper with tears falling down her face while grasping Samsara's hand with a grip that could turn coal into diamonds, but Samsara hardly felt it. Stopping to let Yumi catch her breathe, the waterbender counted to three once more before twisting Yumi's nose causing the girl to screech as she dug her nails into the spirit's hand, but Samsara's blank expression didn't waver as the noble's nose popped back into place with a loud crack.

"I know that must have really hurt, Panda Lily, but you can relax now," Zhen Liu assured the noble while affixing gauze to her nose and then using sticky strips to hold the dressing in place just as Yumi's stomach grumbled making the young girl blush lightly.

"I'll go get you something to eat," the blind woman told the girl with a slight chuckle causing the noble to nod gratefully as the waterbender maneuvered toward the kitchen and removed two bowls from the upper shelf. Placing the bowls on the counter, the blind woman bent some of her leftover soup into the containers and heated it up by using her bending. Picking up the bowls, Zhen Liu seamlessly moved back toward the living room and placed the containers onto the table where Yumi thanked the blind woman and placed her bowl of soup on her lap. Inspecting the contents of the meal, Yumi was surprised to see that the soup was a mishmash of noodles, many pieces of rice, sorghum, kale, and tofu scattered about, a myriad of potato chunks, and a copious amount of pickled seaweed.

"What do you call this dish, Mrs. Zhen Liu?" Yumi wondered while taking a swallowing some of the soup making her face scrunch, but after a moment the initial, nasty taste subsided causing the noble to lift the spoon up to her mouth again.

"I call it food; eat it," the blind woman replied lightheartedly causing Yumi to grunt as she didn't want to be rude and swallowed another mouthful before glancing at the blind woman.

"Mrs. Zhen Liu, I appreciate what you did for me, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd like to go home now, please," Yumi requested causing the waterbender to nod understandably as she set her bowl of soup on the table and clasped her hands together.

"And I'd like to take you home, but the assassins who attacked you are probably waiting for you there or are looking for you as we speak. It would probably be best if you stayed here for the night so at least some of the heat dies down. It is night, right?" Zhen Liu asked no one in particular causing both Yumi and Samsara to glance out the window where they saw the stars shining in the sky and the distant rays of the sun reflecting off of the moon.

"Yep, it's dark as shit," Samsara crudely responded causing Yumi to narrow her eyes at the spirit while the waterbender sat up and walked over to the closet where she retrieved a sleeping mat and two heavy blankets.

"You can sleep on the couch, Panda Lily," Zhen Liu offered while handing Samsara a sleeping mat where the spirit, after taking the bedding without protest, saw Yumi looking at them with her eyes downcast.

"Mrs. Samsara...could you and Mrs. Zhen Liu sleep here with me? I'm scared that the assassins will come after me," Yumi asked causing the spirit to say nothing as she moved the table and set her sleeping mat down next to the couch while the waterbender picked up a chair and set it down in front of the couch.

"Eat your dinner and then get some sleep, Panda Lily," Zhen Liu told the noble while handing her the container of soup causing Yumi to smile warmly as she worfed down the last of the broth before laying her head down and closing her eyes. Letting a grin tug at the corner of her lips, the waterbender placed the blanket over the girl while blowing out the candles leaving the house in relative darkness save for the light of the moon. Bidding good night to Samsara, Zhen Liu leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes while the spirit, just as a precaution, set up an intricate web of wooden vines and roots around the house before sitting down on the sleeping mat and crossing her legs. Interlocking her hands, Samsara closed her eyes and began to meditate which was her version of sleep all while keeping a lookout for anything that happened to go bump in the night. It was fortunate she did as a small figure obscured by the darkness of the night silently scurried away from the roof of Zhen Liu's house and rendezvoused with their cohorts below the dock.

"Yumi is there along with a blind woman and her friend; they're both waterbenders so we should be careful," the figure advised causing Jet, who was leaning against a boulder and mindlessly fiddling with the piece of straw in his mouth, to nod slowly before gazing at the figure.

"Anything else we should know?" Jet inquired causing the figure to grunt as they put a hand on their hip.

"The blind woman's name is Zhen Liu; she's single, works as a...belly dancer at a teashop, adopted by an old couple with one serving overseas in a firebending unit while the other served in the Home Guard, and not particularly beloved by her neighbors. I couldn't find anything on her friend though, not even her name; all I managed to gather is that whenever she shows up, trouble follows," the figure elaborated causing Jet to smirk as a plan was already forming in his head where he fondly patted the figure on the shoulder.

"Good job, Smellerbee," Jet congratulated his fellow Freedom Fighter causing Smellerbee to smile bashfully as Pipsqueak met up with them carrying Yumi's mother, who was bound and gagged, over his shoulder.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. Tie her up over there; I want to get a good look at this monster," Jet ordered causing Pipsqueak to dutifully nod and tie a length of taut chain around her neck and then wrap the other end around a wooden support beam leaving the Fire Nation noble leashed like an animal.

"So you're Lian, huh? I hope you know that you're married to a monster, but considering you killed some of my and my partner's people, it's only fitting you two are together," Jet remarked while smirking smugly at Lian who glared at him and growled which was muffled by her gag which brought no end of amusement to the Freedom Fighter.

"You're probably thinking that you were just defending yourself and your family, that you don't have anything to do with the war crimes Lee committed, but the fact of the matter is that by loving him, you're enabling his behavior so you and your daughter are just as guilty as him," Jet explained while narrowing his eyes upon recalling the memory of his village being burnt down causing Lian to snarl like an armadillo lion.

"That's why since we can't beat your husband in a direct fight, we're going to capture your daughter, make you watch as we kill her so you understand some semblance of the pain we went through, kill her, and then deliver your corpses to Lee's house to break his spirit," Jet informed Lian who widened her eyes and went still for a moment before her eyes dilated to the size of coins as she let out a furious roar and tried to wrap her hands around his neck only for her collar to pull her back.

"Now you're probably thinking we can't possibly know where she is, but we do and since I'm a nice guy, I'll let you two have some final words with each other," Jet continued causing Lian to redouble her efforts to break free while paying no mind as the flesh on her neck was being torn off causing a fountain of blood to pour down onto her dress.

"Jet, shouldn't we tell Suki and Akane about this? I mean, they're our partners, right?" the Duke pointed out causing Jet to sigh as he knelt down and put both his hands on the Duke's shoulders.

"What they don't know won't hurt them and besides, we'll report that the police aren't on our trail just like we promised," Jet assured the youngest member of his group causing the Duke to uncertainly stare at the hook sword wielder before nodding reluctantly which made Jet pat him on the shoulder before staring at all of his gathered Freedom Fighters.

"Pipsqueak, the Duke, you two watch our prisoner. Longshot, Smellerbee, Wolftail, and Bootstrap, let's go get some payback," Jet stated with a slightly crazed grin which made his Freedom Fighters nod as they followed their leader onto the boardwalk where they rounded the corner into an empty alley before climbing onto the roof a building. Silently building hopping until they were right on top of Zhen Liu's house, Jet gestured for Smellerbee to stand on watch while motioning for Longshot to take out Yumi if he had a clear shot or shoot her if she tried to flee. Landing behind the blind woman's house without a sound along with Bootstrap and Wolftail, he crept up to a window and picked the lock where he carefully pushed it open and was about to step in when he noticed the wooden vines littering the area like tripwire.

"Wolftail, you take care of the blind woman and Bootstrap, you handle her friend. I'll get the girl," Jet whispered causing his two subordinates to nod as they cautiously stepped over the roots scattered around the home while taking out their weapons. Suddenly, they stopped dead in their tracks when Zhen Liu suddenly stood up, released a breathe, and began to walk toward the chamber pot before she sniffed the air and looked in their direction causing Jet to mentally curse.

"W-who's there?" Zhen Liu asked while raising her voice to near shouting levels which made Samsara wake up from her stupor and place a tired Yumi behind her while Wolftail discreetly gestured for Jet and Boostrap to hide. Nodding, Jet to hid in a bedroom while Bootstrap took cover in a hallway.

"I'm really sorry ma'am; I got drunk and I woke up here so I'll just leave, okay?" Wolftail told Zhen Liu in a calm, friendly voice, but all this did was make the waterbender narrow her grayed out eyes.

"I don't smell any alcohol on your clothes or in your breathe and if you were drunk, your speech would be tired and pained since you'd be having a hangover," Zhen Liu mercilessly ripped apart Wolftail's alibi causing the Freedom Fighter to to growl as he took out his whale tooth scimitar and jawbone blade.

"Clever, aren't you? Give me the girl and you and your friend won't get hurt," Wolftail snarled while brandishing his weapons at the waterbender as Yumi recoiled when she saw the Freedom Fighter and tightly wrapped her arm around Samsara's hips.

"That's one of the people who attacked my family and I!" Yumi shrieked causing Samsara to spare a quick glance at her before slowly walking toward the door while making sure to shield Yumi with her body.

"That's right, we are, and we're going to finish what we started," Jet cut in as he emerged from cover with his hook swords at the ready causing Bootstrap to sigh and slap a palm to his face before following suit.

" _There's three of them; Samsara put wooden vines around the floor and there's two rice wine bottles on a shelf in the kitchen I can use, but I need to get a better read of their positions first,"_ Zhen Liu strategized as she protectively stepped in front of Samsara and Yumi with her hands out in front where, to the Freedom Fighter's surprise, she took off her hanfu leaving her upper body completely exposed save for her chest wraps.

"Look lady, we're not going to spare her because or even if you offer us your body," Bootstrap said while taking a threatening step toward the blind woman who felt the vibrations of the footstep traveling along the ground which allowed her to get a better read of the situation.

" _One of them is across from me, one of them is stepping over the couch, and the other is trying to sneak past the guy I'm facing off with. I need to take out the two on the side and then keep the guy in front of me away from Samsara and Yumi as best as I can,"_ Zhen Liu planned as she clenched her fist causing the bottles of rice wine to go flying from the shelf and roughly impact the back of Jet and Boostrap's head making them cry out and fall to the ground with shards of glass in their scalps. Widening his eyes for a split second, Wolftail charged at Zhen Liu who sweated profusely like it was a hot summer day and just when the Freedom Fighter swung his whale tooth scimitar at the crown of her skull, Zhen Liu stopped the blade in its tracks with thick, sturdy gauntlets of sweat. Taken aback, Wolftail thrust his jawbone blade at the blind woman's gut, but the blade only penetrated mere inches into a cuirass of solidified sweat. Gritting her teeth, Zhen Liu clamped a gigantic hand of semi-tactile sweat around Wolftail's wrist and squeezed causing a sickening crack to echo throughout the house as Wolftail howled in absolute agony when his wrist bone shattered like glass which forced him to drop his dagger.

"Samsara, take Yumi and go!" Zhen Liu roared as she ducked underneath a swipe at her neck and then dipped to the side to avoid a downward blow at her skull.

"Don't need to tell me twice...or at all actually," Samsara replied as she picked up Yumi bridal style and sprinted out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her.

"They're getting away!" Jet shouted as he regained his bearings and charged after them causing Zhen Liu to launch a hailstorm of sweaty spikes at him, but the Freedom Fighter seamlessly weaved, rolled, spun, and flipped around them before running out the door. Mentally chastising herself, the waterbender focused on the enemies in front of her as she stepped to the side to avoid what she thought was a downward strike at her skull, but suddenly ate a hard, stiff punch across her face. Hissing, Zhen Liu hit the cold, unforgiving floor where she tasted blood and felt that Bootstrap was about to get up causing her to shape her hand into a claw which made Bootstrap shriek as a myriad of tiny, needle like spikes of rice wine penetrated deep into his hands, fingers, and arms. Suddenly feeling the air shift, the blind woman raised her forearms in front of her face and grimaced when Wolftail's scimitar grazed the side of her head which scraped off some of her flesh and caused blood to splatter onto her table like paint. While Zhen Liu was focused on the pain, Wolftail brought his blade back for and swung his scimitar at her skull like an axe causing Zhen Liu to twist her body to the side and push it past her guard only to hiss as the Freedom Fighter slammed his forehead against her skull.

Feeling lighter than air, Zhen Liu lied in a daze causing Wolftail to stab downward at her head, but the waterbender suddenly grasped his forearm with one of her gauntlets and while jamming her thumb into his eye with the other. Applying pressure, Wolftail screamed bloody murder as his forearm snapped like a twig while his eye burst apart like a grape with a wet, gut wrenching squelch causing a copious amount of blood to pour onto Zhen Liu's body, but the blind woman paid it no mind. With Wolftail no longer forcing his weight down on her, the blind woman threw him off to the side and released a deep, heavy breathe before wincing as something poked her gut. Facing the direction of her new attacker whom she realized was Bootstrap holding Wolftail's jawbone dagger, Zhen Liu ducked under the swipe at her neck and then stepped back to avoid the backhand swing where her back hit the wall.

Keeping calm, the waterbender ducked underneath the thrust at her throat and wrapped one arm around Bootstrap's waist while the other tightly grasped his wrist where she shoved him aside by using her hips and stomping in the direction she wanted to throw him in. Gasping, Bootstrap uncontrollably staggered back where he tripped over Samsara's wooden vines and roughly hit the floor on the back of his head causing him to groan and unconsciously release his grip on Wolftail's jawbone blade. Before he could catch his breathe, Bootstrap gagged violently as a stream of sweat forced its way down his throat where part of the current turned into a giant hand and wrapped itself around his entire head. Wincing as he was roughly slammed against the wall, tears streamed down Bootstrap's eye as he desperately tried to get some air, any air into his system, but it was for naught as Zhen Liu reached out and pulled the jawbone dagger to her with an outstretched hand of sweat.

Plunging the blade deep into his heart, the blind woman felt him writhe and squirm along with hearing him let out a muffled screech before she felt him go completely still causing her to unceremoniously drop him to the ground like a sack of potatoes while letting the sweat constructs fall to the ground like raindrops. Releasing a deep, labored breathe, Zhen Liu draped her robe over her shoulder and walked over to the couch where she sniffed it in order to get Yumi's scent before putting her hanfu back on. Ignoring the bystander's various comments about her injuries, she followed the Yumi's scent trail only to tilt her head when she picked up a similar, but different one coming from beneath the docks which made her put a hand on her chin. Steeling herself, Zhen Liu shrugged off the grip of a drunken sailor offering her a good time and followed the trail wafting beneath the docks all while hoping that Samsara and Yumi got to safety.


	3. Chapter 3 Bent, but not Broken

Ch. 3

Bent, but not Broken

 _Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me_

"Move it, people!" Samsara shouted more out of annoyance than any actual fear on her part as she barreled through the crowd and knocked some unfortunate sods on their backsides where they yelled a whole slew of curses at her.

" _Just have to go somewhere where there will be no witnesses and then I can kill these guys,"_ the spirit strategized as she furrowed her brow when one of Longshot's arrows impacted her head which made the projectile burst into a spray of wooden dust and splinters.

Seeing an alleyway coming up with no one around, Samsara smirked and blocked an arrow with her forearm which was hurtling toward Yumi's head which reduced the projectile into nothing but wooden mist. Turning on a dime, Samsara sprinted into the alley where she placed Yumi behind her and shielded her with her body where she noticed Longshot take position on a rooftop while Jet tightened his grip on his hookswords.

"I don't know how you survived getting hit by arrows, but you have nowhere to go. Give us the girl and we'll let you live," Jet stated while brandishing her blades at the duo causing Yumi to unconsciously summon a fire dagger in hand, but all Samsara did was chuckle under her breathe and brush her crimson hair over her shoulder.

"Neither me or the little shit are dying here, but you're more than welcome to test that theory," Samsara responded while giving a fanged grin and to Yumi's shock.

"What you are doing!? Don't provoke them!" Yumi yelled at Samsara in a voice barely above a whisper causing the spirit to snort and ruffle the young girl's hair making her grumble.

"I'm not kidding; if killing you is what it takes to complete the mission, then I'll do it," Jet threatened while stalking toward the duo making Yumi nervously stutter and tightly grasp Samsara's leg all while the spirit scoffed at the Freedom Fighter's threat.

"If you think you have what it takes, then by all means, strike me down," Samsara challenged with a cocky sneer and thumped her chest twice to emphasize her challenge making Jet raise a brow before narrowing his eyes.

"As you wish," Jet retorted as he sprinted toward the spirit who let a wild, fanged grin form on her face as she discreetly transformed her hand into dark, demonic blue one with razor sharp, claw like fingernails.

Just as Samsara was about to plunge her claws through Jet's throat, a sai embedded itself into the ground between them making Jet leap back while Samsara merely looked in the direction the weapon was thrown. Raising a brow when she saw a woman clothes similar to Avatar Kyoshi barring the metallic face mask resembling the Unagi, iron plating covering her shoulders, and segmented metal plates protecting her chest, Samsara watched as the woman jumped down onto the ground and glowered at Jet with a look that could kill many times over.

"You were supposed to tell us if the authorities were on our trail, not gain their attention," the woman growled as she yanked her sai out of the ground with a quick flick of her wrist causing the weapon to be reeled back to her hand by the chain it was attached to.

"And you were supposed to lie low until the report came in," Jet retorted making the woman snort as she grabbed Jet by his shirt collar and pinned him against the wall.

"Don't use misdirection on me; it may work on your followers, but it doesn't work on me. Now come along; my allies neutralized the policemen pursuing you, but more are undoubtedly on the way," the woman demanded while releasing her grip on Jet making the Freedom Fighter grumble before glancing at Samsara and Yumi causing the spirit to tap her chin twice with her knuckles while Yumi continued to nervously tremble.

"It's dangerous to let her live; not only is she going to end up just like her father, but she's a firebender to boot. Imagine the destruction she's capable of causing," Jet argued while standing toe to toe with the woman, but the Kyoshi Warrior didn't back down and unflinchingly glared into his eyes where she put her hands on her hips.

"Contrary to what you believe, no one is evil or good solely because of the element they wield," the woman shot back before they heard the sound of whistles and a chorus of footsteps nearing them making the Kyoshi Warrior snarl.

"Let's split up and meet back at camp. And Jet, it's best we don't talk to each other for a while," the warrior commented as she jumped onto the roof of a building while Jet smirked and leaped onto the opposite building where he motioned for Longshot to make his escape.

"I'm shaking in my boots, Akane," Jet taunted making the Kyoshi Warrior grunt as she hopped from building to building at such speed than she soon disappeared into the night along with Jet leaving Samsara and Yumi alone in the alley.

"You okay?" Samsara asked Yumi who jolted before looking up at Samsara where it looked like she was going to keep quiet, but the spirit saw her lip's quiver before she exploded like a volcano.

"No, I'm not okay! What were you thinking goading them like that!? We could have been killed!" Yumi roared at the spirit with puffs of searing hot smoke unconsciously flowing out of her mouth which emphasized her point making Samsara hold up her hands in a placating gesture.

"Nah, we would have been fine. Don't worry," Samsara responded with a shrug making Yumi tightly ball her hand into a fist and punch the air with a war cry sending a powerful salvo of fire flying through the air where it collided with a wall and made a giant, smoldering hole in it.

"Okay, I'll tell you everything when we get back-"

"No, you tell me right now!" Yumi screeched making Samsara sigh and rub the back of her head as the military police rounded the corner where the leader ordered some of his subordinates to pick up the terrorist's trail while commanding the rest to check up on Samsara and Yumi.

"Look, I can't, but I promise I'll you when this shit gets sorted out," Samsara promised making the young girl grunt before staring directly into the spirit's eyes and despite her injuries, stood up with her back straight.

"You swear?" Yumi huffed causing a plume of smoke to expel from her nostrils akin to a dragon when it felt like it had been slighted making an ever so slight grin tug at the corner of Samsara's lips.

"I give you my solemn vow," Samsara responded with a slight chuckle while formally bowing to the noble girl who returned the gesture despite her misgivings about the spirit as the members of the military police neared them.

"Are you two...ugh, it's you," one military policewoman groaned upon seeing Samsara making the spirit sneer, put a hand on her hip, and raise an amused brow as the policewoman took off her cloak and draped it around Yumi's shoulders.

"Good to see you too, Ming. You're looking constipated and grouchy as usual," Samsara remarked while flashing a fanged grin making Ming's brow twitch as she and one of her comrades looked over Yumi's wounds.

"Working one job as a prison guard, and working another as law enforcement, and interacting with you tends to bring out those feelings in me," Ming retorted making the spirit feign offense before laughing under her breathe making the sentry snort as she motioned for the duo to follow her.

"Where's Zhen Liu?" Ming asked making Samsara resist the urge to make comment like "Why, you want to see her shake her belly and butt for you?" and instead just helped Yumi walk who was moving with a noticeable limp.

"I don't know; she stayed behind to hold them off while the little shit and I escaped," Samsara answered making Ming grumble at the spirit's choice of words regarding Yumi, but bit her tongue when she saw Samsara gently pick Yumi up and place her on her ally's komodo rhino.

"Then we'll go look for her once we get you two back to the station," Ming stated as to her dismay, Samsara mounted her komodo rhino and wrapped her arms around her waist making the sentry resist the great, overwhelming urge to groan.

"Captain, we're going to take these two back to base and then we're going to look for my friend if that's okay?" Ming requested causing her commanding officer to nod and motion for them to proceed causing the sentry to internally sigh in relief before leading her allies back to base all while hoping that Zhen Liu was alive.

* * *

"Okay, getting close," Zhen Liu whispered to herself both to assure herself and to break the silence that was near deafening to her as she sniffed the air and managed to discern the scent she was following from the salty odors of the sea.

Taking a step, she gained a better mental picture of the area and took cover behind a wooden pillar where she made out what she thought was Yumi's scent, but smelled two other odors with her causing her to put a hand on her chin.

" _Should I engage? No, they might kill her if they see me and I don't have good enough picture of the battlefield to throw out projectiles without potentially hitting Yumi. The ocean water is too far away to bend as well and my gauntlets doesn't have enough range to hit them either,"_ Zhen Liu mused as she clenched her fist and grit her teeth as a reckless, suicidal idea came to mind which she knew Ming would admonish her for.

" _I'm_ g _oing to have to charge them, accept some collateral damage, and hope for the best,"_ Zhen Liu mentally stated as she wrapped her hanfu around her hand to form a makeshift fist-load and formed a volatile orb of sweat in her hands which seemed ready to burst.

Steeling herself, Zhen Liu was about to burst out of cover to chuck the sphere in order to create a smokescreen before a new scent arrived on the battlefield causing her to curse and duck back into cover.

"Pipsqueak, The Duke, what is this?" the newcomer asked incredulously which Zhen Liu managed to discern that she was talking about whom she assumed to be Yumi.

"It's nothing, Suki. Jet just wanted us to watch over the prisoner while he and a couple of our guys went to finish off the girl," Pipsqueak answered which made Suki, garbed in clothing Fire Nation commoners would wear, fight the urge to yell every conceivable curse she could think of at them for going off mission.

"Neither she or her mother were our targets! We were just supposed to take out Lee and then head back home," Suki shot back as she marched past them and checked over Lian's wounds and narrowed her eyes when she saw the abrasions on her neck from tugging at the chains.

"Listen, Suki. Jet's a great leader; we follow what he says and things always turn out okay," Pipsqueak retorted which made the Kyoshi Warrior shake her head, take out one of her fans, and level it at him.

"You won't think that once he brings the military police down on us," Suki remarked as she released a breathe and considered what to do with Lian while Zhen Liu advanced and took cover behind another wooden pillar when their gaze was elsewhere.

" _So it's Yumi's mother they got hostage. In either case, I'll set her free and take her to the military police,"_ Zhen Liu thought to herself as she emerged from cover and threw the orb of sweat at their feet which kicked up a putrid smelling smokescreen and caused Suki, the Duke, Pipsqueak, and Lian to dry heave at the awful smell.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhen Liu burst from cover and knelt down next to Lian while holding up her hands in a placating gesture to put the noblewoman at ease.

"I don't have time to explain other than I'm here to help; please guide my hands to where your restraints are so I can remove them," Zhen Liu requested while pointing at her grayed out eyes just in case Lian didn't notice she was blind causing Lian to grasp her hands and guide them to the chain around her neck.

Acting quickly, Zhen Liu flash froze the restraints and shattered them causing Lian to guide her hands to the next pair of restraints binding her wrists. Firmly grasping them, Zhen Liu froze them and broke them like twigs making Lian resist the urge to rub her wrists. Just as she was about to guide Zhen Liu's hands to the restraints on her ankles, she suddenly pushed the belly dancer aside making Zhen Liu gasp. Grimacing as she hit the ground, Zhen Liu didn't bother to ask why Lian that as she felt something swinging in the air towards her. Ducking underneath the blow, Zhen Liu wrapped an arm around her adversary's thick waist and pummeled their kidney with a series of rapid, sledgehammer like blows with her improvised fist-load. Retching, Pipsqueak dropped the log he was carrying and collapsed on his knees as he felt like he was going to puke up his insides. Not letting up, Zhen Liu thrust her knee up into his chin with a sickening crack causing Pipsqueak to howl in pain as he felt as if his teeth were going to get stab the roof of his mouth. With an earthshaking thud, Pipsqueak crashed to the ground where he tightly clutched his bloodied mouth causing Zhen Liu to turn toward Suki who was still trying to regain her bearings before she felt someone leap onto her shoulders like they were going for a piggyback ride.

"Leave him alone!" Zhen Liu heard a voice shout which she discerned was coming from a child as said child then dug their fingers into her eyes making the belly dancer hiss and erratically stagger about.

Gritting her teeth, Zhen Liu grasped The Duke's forearm while simultaneously stepping back to avoid a swipe at her chest from Suki's war fan and used the momentum to toss the Duke off of her shoulders. Letting out a pained cry as he was harshly slammed into the ground, The Duke tightly grasped his now broken arm and curled up into a fetal position as Zhen Liu bashed away a thrust at her face from Suki's war fan with her fist-load. Acting fast, Zhen Liu struck the Kyoshi Warrior's nose with a stiff palm heel strike right on her nose making Suki hiss and feel a sharp wave of pain travel throughout her head before falling on her backside. Taking a moment to catch her breathe, Zhen Liu advanced on The Duke who tried to crawl away from her, but Zhen Liu grabbed him, forced him onto his belly, grabbed the back of his neck, and forced her weight down on him in order to keep him pinned.

"Should have stayed out of it, kid," Zhen Liu told The Duke before bashing the back of his head with a powerful, yet restrained punch eliciting a a pained yelp from the Freedom Fighter before he went limp causing the belly dancer to sadly shake her head before getting off of him.

As she got up, Zhen Liu received a powerful, earth shattering blow right on her cheek making her cry out hobble around like a drunkard before falling onto her side. Rubbing her cheek, she wondered what hit her before shaking the thought aside as she rolled to her feet and brought her fists up. Snorting, Suki followed in kind as her fan was completely unfurled into a stout, daunting shield. Deciding to take the offensive, Suki feinted with a jab and to her surprise, Zhen Liu completely committed to blocking the strike as if it were the real thing, but didn't get to mull over it for long as Zhen Liu spat a glob of blood onto her face. Yelping, Suki instinctively raised her hands to her face and violently wheezed as she received a devastating knee to her unprotected gut. Forcing down the pain, the Kyoshi Warrior ducked underneath the follow up cross and threw out a restrained jab at Zhen Liu's face causing the belly dancer to cover up as if she was going to get hit by the knockout blow. Taking full advantage of this, Suki swiftly followed up with a shield enhanced punch to Zhen Liu's ribs making her foe curse and cough up some blood, but didn't fall down.

" _I see; she doesn't know which blows are feints and which ones are the real thing,"_ Suki noted as she passed a punch from Zhen Liu past her guard and counter attacked with a stiff blow from her shield right on the belly dancer's face.

Screaming as she felt as if her face was going to get caved in, Zhen Liu stumbled backwards as Suki threw a halfhearted jab at her enemy's face causing Zhen Liu to try and grasp her wrist only for Suki to reel it back. Grabbing nothing but empty air, Zhen Liu received a powerful cross right on the cheek causing blood to fly from her mouth and spray onto the sand. Not letting up Suki, pummeled Zhen Liu with a palm heel to her chin making her enemy's head snap back and a shield enhanced punch on Zhen Liu's armpit rendering the belly dancer's arm inert. Finishing her combo with a merciless knee to her gut, Zhen Liu's pupils constricted to the size of dots and vomited a mixture of blood and saliva, but in spite of all this, Zhen Liu remained standing which understandably concerned Suki. Spitting up blood onto the sand, Zhen Liu encased her body in reinforced sweat and glowered at the Kyoshi Warrior with fierce, murderous gaze and gritted, blood caked teeth.

" _She's knows I can't tell which one of her attacks are real or not. I'm going to have to take a some hits if I'm going to land some of my own,"_ Zhen Liu thought as Suki tried to fake her out with a kick which Zhen Liu committed to blocking and tensed up her body when the predicted counterattack followed through.

Wincing, Zhen Liu acted quickly and latched onto the offending arm before viciously headbutting Suki making the Kyoshi Warrior grimace before she broke the grapple by kicking Zhen Liu's thigh making the belly dancer nearly fall over. Attacking more carefully this time, Suki threw out two jabs and feinted a kick all of which Zhen Liu did her best to block with one arm before Suki kneed the inside of her thigh making Zhen Liu hiss. However, Zhen Liu managed to firmly wrap her arm around the limb and yanked Suki's leg back while simultaneously driving her shoulders into her foe's abdomen causing Suki to fall onto her back. Crying out when Zhen Liu simultaneously twisted the limb and applied pressure which made her leg snap like a twig, Suki thrust her foot into Zhen Liu's gut making her adversary finally topple over where both women greedily gulped down breathes of air. Releasing a pained breathe, Suki touched her leg and cried out when it felt like it had been run over by a stampeded of ostrich horses. Just as Zhen Liu and a now freed Lian advanced on her, members of Suki's warrior band arrived on the battlefield where they formed a defensive circle around their wounded allies.

"You okay?" Yuki, one of Suki's warriors, asked while wrapping an arm around Suki's waist and picking her up where she helped her leader stand as some of their allies cautiously left the circle while never taking their eyes off of their enemies to pick up The Duke and Pipsqueak.

"I'll be fine," Suki assured her friend before sparing a glance at Zhen Liu and Lian who were prepared to fight, but everyone could see the reluctance on their face of having to take on so many adversaries especially while not fully recovered.

"Guys, we should move," Suzuki, another of Suki's warriors, advised as she pointed at the lanterns of the military police getting closer to their position while picking up Pipsqueak with the help of one of her allies.

"Right," Suki stated as she nodded at her allies who returned the gesture before throwing down smoke bombs causing a thick, gray fog to blanket the area making Lian shield her eyes with her forearm while Zhen Liu simply glared as the smoke interfered with her ability to pick up their scents.

Giving a snarl when she saw her adversaries no longer in sight when the smokescreen cleared, Lian released a breathe and turned to her savior whose legs looked like they were going to give out at any moment.

"Thank you for your help miss..." Lian trailed off causing Zhen Liu to nod and hold up a hand indicating to give her a moment to deal with the pain flooding her system now that the adrenaline had worn off.

"Zhen Liu; I'm assuming you're Yumi's mother?" the belly dancer inquired causing Lian's eyes to widen and grasp Zhen Liu's shoulders which made Zhen Liu jolt slightly as she felt Lian's face mere inches from hers.

"Yes, yes I am! I-is Yumi safe!? Is she alright?" Lian asked in a rapid, hurried tone making Zhen Liu sigh and shake her shoulders much to Lian's dismay.

"I don't know; my friend ran off with her while I stayed behind to hold them off when they broke into my house," Zhen Liu answered causing Lian to do her best not to shed any tears at the prospect of death or worse befalling her daughter as Ming and her allies rode down the wooden ramp leading to the beach.

"Are you two okay?" Ming asked as she approached the duo and dismounted her komodo rhino while gesturing her for her cohorts to sweep the area and see if they can discern any clues to the whereabouts of the kidnappers.

"We'll live; thanks for showing up when you did," Zhen Liu gratefully told Ming who nodded...before lightly punching her friend's shoulder making the belly dancer wince as Ming narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.

"Next time tell us where the kidnappers are instead of running of on your own," Ming admonished her friend who sighed and nodded in agreement as her two allies walked back to her where the policewoman gave them an expectant look.

"We found some tracks, but they don't go very far," one of Ming's allies informed her making the sentry pinch the bridge of her nose before motioning for them to mount up where Ming helped Zhen Liu get atop her komodo rhino.

"The one with the hookswords likes to unnecessary risks so we'll pick up their trail soon enough," Ming assured her cohort who nodded as he assisted Lian onto his mount where Ming clicked her tongue causing her komodo rhino to grunt and trudge forward where they rode in silence before Lian broke it.

"Officer, I don't suppose you've seen a little girl-"

"I assume you mean Yumi, right? She's back at base getting some rest in the barracks and unfortunately, your friend is there too, Zhen Liu," Ming told the two women causing both of them to release a collective sigh of relief.

"Take us to them, please," Zhen Liu requested causing Ming to nod and flick on the reins causing her komodo rhino to pick up its pace back to the station.

"Of course and Lian, I'll send out a messenger hawk to your husband as soon as we get there," Ming informed the noblewoman who graciously thanked the sentry and felt a giant weight leave her shoulders.

* * *

Releasing a breathe, an overweight woman with dark brown hair garbed in a divine crimson dress which would make any noblewoman in the Fire Nation jealous entered her carriage. Taking out a mirror, the noblewoman meticulously looked herself over before nodding in approval and discreetly coating the interior of the carriage in obsidian which muffled any sound coming from the interior.

"Mistress, you can show yourself now," the noblewoman said to seemingly no one as a heavenly white apparition of a woman with nine fox tails that took the form of serpents and amber, dragon like eyes appeared in the seat across from her.

"Greetings, Himiko. The driver can't hear us, right?" the apparition asked causing her faithful servant to nod.

"Good, I trust all goes well then?" the shade inquired which made the shaman nod as she absentmindedly formed an orb of lightning in her palm, gave it a little flourish, and crushed it causing tiny sparks to faintly illuminate the interior before ebbing away.

"Yes, mistress. I nearly have enough chi to revive you and the Fire Nation Royal Family is none the wiser," Himiko answered causing both women to share a chuckle before the apparition looked at Himiko dead in the eye which made the shaman think she was facing down a dragon, but was unafraid.

"Is there a chance the Avatar-"

"No, mistress. The current Avatar, an air nomad, hasn't been sighted in over a century on account of the Fire Nation...purging them," Himiko reluctantly informed her mistress which made the shade's eyes widen to the size of saucers and had to take a moment to process what she just heard before shaking her head and clearing her throat.

"Who ordered this appalling genocide?" the apparition demanded calmly, but firmly as searing hot, divine white flames encompassed her being with some of the fire taking the shape of wings and despite this show of force, the carriage wasn't burnt in the slightest.

"Sozin; he lost the right to be called Prince or Fire Lord in my eyes because of this," Himiko answered with a slight growl causing the phantom to nod slowly as she took a deep breathe in and let it back out causing the white flames surrounding her to ebb away.

"The Air Nomads were my enemies...but they didn't deserve such a fate. Is there anyone in Sozin's bloodline-"

"Yes, mistress. Ozai, Sozin's grandson, and Azula, Sozin's great-granddaughter, show the same propensity to repeat his actions. However Prince Iroh, Sozin's more worthy grandson, and Prince Zuko, Sozin's shining great-grandson, don't have the capacity for such cruelty. I believe that they can be persuaded to help build your world of light," Himiko interrupted making the phantom nod as she recalled how the Air Nomads along with one of the Avatars fought her with such grit and ferocity that in her eyes, one determined Air Nomad was easily worth 100 warriors from any other nation.

"If you can convince them, then that will be a great advantage to us. If not, then we'll manage like we always do," the phantom responded as she processed all this information and was glad to have an agent filling her in to the happenings of the outside world while she was stuck in her prison courtesy of that damned Avatar Kanna.

Grunting, the shade sat up and asked her partner "Are there any other atrocities I should be made aware of?" to which the shaman nodded.

"Sozin authorized the hunt of dragons for sport all for the silly title of Dragon which, in effect, was another genocide as dragons are now most likely extinct," Himiko cut off making the presence pop out her claws as she remembered not only how to firebend from them, but also playing with them without a care in the world during her youth.

"In addition, Azulon ordered the purge of waterbenders in anyway, shape, or form which led to the extinction of waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe as far as I know," Himiko grimly informed her mistress causing the apparition to grit her teeth as she recalled battling Avatar Amaruq and how the woman, despite not being formally trained in waterbending thanks to growing up in Northern Water Tribe, fought her with everything she had alongside her companions despite not having the first clue on how to earthbend or firebend.

A significantly _small_ part of the phantom was a bit disappointed that Himiko's plans forced Amaruq to face them before she even became adept at waterbending and airbending, but was glad to get an obstacle to her world of light out of the way. Still, while Amaruq's waterbending was just intuitive, adaptive, yet amateurish brawling and her airbending was basic, crude, and rigid at best, but she still put up a surprisingly good fight. So good that after she plunged her fist through Amaruq's sternum and crushed her heart into bloody mush, she honored her fallen opponent by tending to her corpse according to Water Tribe customs.

"Give any fallen air nomads, dragons, flying bison, lemurs, and waterbenders you come across a proper burial," the apparition commanded causing Himiko to ball her hand into a fist and pound her palm with it before dutifully bowing her head.

"Of course, mistress," Himiko loyally responded as the presence of disappeared causing the shaman to manifest an obsidian necklace which she studied intently.

Manipulating the stones so they shined a bit more in the moonlight, the shaman nodded in approval and put the necklace on where she suddenly felt the carriage slowing down.

"Here we are, ma'am," the driver stated causing Himiko to look down at her dress and loosened the belt a bit so more of her belly could hang out before exiting the carriage where she turned to the driver and grinned.

"Thanks for always taking me where I need to go, Ping. Here, go treat yourself and your wife before picking me up," Himiko genially replied while handing her driver a couple of gold ingots making Ping's eyes widen and had to do a double take before nodding vigorously and taking the offered gold bars out of Himiko's hands.

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!" Ping gratefully exclaimed to which Himiko nodded as the driver flicked the reins and drove off causing the shaman to approach the royal palace with her head held high.

Fortunately for her, there wasn't a line of guests she had to wait behind and was able to get to the front gates where she was stopped by the guards whom she could tell were annoyed by her presence even with their masks on.

"You're late," one of the guards stated while extending his hand causing the shaman to resist the urge to roll her eyes and instead just handed her invitation over to the sentry who looked it over before motioning for her to go on ahead.

"It's a party, not a war meeting," Himiko retorted which made the guard snort as the shaman took her invitation back and put her hands into her sleeves before going into the royal palace where she immediately saw it was filled to the brim with guests.

Making sure her dark brown hair was in order, Himiko scanned the room and didn't bat an eye upon seeing the Water Tribe delegation while groaning when she saw Zhao and other military blowhards in attendance. However, she did raise a brow when she saw that Ozai's greatest warrior, Lee, was absent as was his family, but figured he was granted a leave of absence. Scanning the area, she saw Azulon sitting down and looking mean on his throne while surrounded by his guards as usual while the Royal Family was busy talking to the Water Tribe delegation. Sighing, Himiko decided to greet the Royal Family even if the only ones she had any actual respect for were Prince Iroh, Princess Ursa, Prince Zuko, and the deceased Prince Lu Ten. However, before she could reach them, Zhao intercepted her making Himiko internally groan and force a fake smile onto her face.

"Captain Zhao-"

"It's commander, now," Zhao interrupted as he gently grasped Himiko's hand and gave it a quick kiss making the shaman want to vomit at the thought of being...intimate with someone like him.

"Ah, of course. Forgive me, I'm out of the loop concerning the details in our nation's military," Himiko responded with fake cheerfulness causing Zhao to smirk which made the shaman want nothing more than to turn him into a pincushion with a flurry of obsidian blades, but stayed her hand.

"No harm done; so, have you heard of my victory over the Earth Imperium Navy at the Mo Ce Sea? It was a spectacular showing of my...the Fire Nation's might if I do say so myself and it's the reason why Prince Ozai requested Fire Lord Azulon to promote me," Zhao boasted while grabbing two drinks off of a waiter's tray without even bothering to check if they were meant for someone else and offered one of them to Himiko who resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just accepted the drink while maintaining her false grin.

"I have not, but I'm sure you don't want to bore me with the specifics," Himiko responded while taking a sip from her drink and hoping that Zhao would take the hint that she wanted the conversation to end, but the commander was as dense as a steel wall.

"Oh, come now. It will be worth your time, I promise," Zhao assured her as he gestured at an empty table off to the side with his head, but the shaman kept her cool and simply snorted in response while staring at the commander dead in the eye.

"I don't doubt it, but I must go greet our hosts. It is disrespectful to not pay homage to them after all," Himiko calmly, but firmly asserted herself while turning on her back foot and walking away leaving Zhao in the dust who could only look at the shaman walk away while at a loss for words.

" _Ugh, why does Zhao of all people have to take an interest in me? At least I have other, less deplorable people seeking my hand in marriage,"_ Himiko thought to herself as she approached the table the Royal Family was sitting at and formally bowed to each of them, though she did put in more effort when greeting Prince Iroh, Princess Ursa, and Prince Zuko.

"Prince Iroh, thank you and your family for inviting me. I apologize for being late; I had other matters that I had to attend to," Himiko explained while keeping her head dipped as the other matters in question were extensively practicing her version of the four elements, putting herself through intense physical and mental training, building up her chi reserves through meditation, and weakening the prison her mistress was trapped in with said chi reserves.

"It's no trouble at all; I'm sure whatever it was you were doing was important. Have you met Chief Hakoda and his family? They've come here seeking to make new friends to help the war effort," Iroh inquired gesturing at the chieftain with a motion of his hand causing Himiko to gaze upon Hakoda, Kya, Sokka, and Katara and size them up.

"I have not had the pleasure; greetings Chief Hakoda, my name is Kosuke. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance," the shaman cordially greeted the chieftain by using her cover name while respectfully bowing to him after discerning he was a decent person due to reading his aura.

"The pleasure is all mine; this is my wife, Kya, and these are my children Sokka and Katara," Hakoda replied while gesturing at his family members causing the shaman to politely bow to each of them and noted that they were all good people as well.

"It's nice to meet you all; if you wouldn't mind, could you please go into more detail on what you mean about finding more friends to help the war effort?" Himiko tactfully asked which made Hakoda nod as he gestured at a nearby table which the shaman and Prince Iroh sat down at while noting the scowl Ozai sent Iroh's way.

"Not at all; as you may know, refugees from the Water Confederacy were granted asylum in the Fire Nation so long as they helped the Fire Navy in defending their waters. Unfortunately, were low on manpower and while the backing of Prince Iroh and Prince Ozai has helped bolster our numbers, it's still not enough," Hakoda elaborated causing Himiko to nod slowly as she could practically see the stress from the situation rolling off of him in waves without even having to read his aura.

"That's not all, is it? I'm guessing your people aren't exactly enthused about being thrown at the same people they were trying to flee from in the first place," Himiko pointed out which made Hakoda sigh softly and nod before clasping his hands together.

"Yes, which is why getting more people to support us is critical. While many have fled the Water Confederacy, many have not and I don't know how much longer we can subsist on volunteers and refugees alone," the chieftain responded as Himiko couldn't help but be impressed by the fact that despite falling apart at the seams, Hakoda still had the willpower to soldier on despite his people's precarious situation.

"I see; while Fire Lord Azulon granted your people asylum, it's contingent on the fact that your people aid the Fire Navy, but you simply don't have enough volunteers or reinforcements to do just that. While I obviously can't give you extra manpower, you _can_ count on my financial backing," Himiko stated causing Hakoda's and Kya's eyes to widen before the chieftain gave an enthused nod and extended his hand.

"Thank you, Kosuke," Hakoda gratefully told the shaman who grinned and clasped his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"It's no trouble, Chief Hakoda. I'm more than happy to pool my vast wealth toward a good cause," Himiko replied with a warm, reassuring grin on her face as her offer was nothing but sincere with no ulterior motive to which Iroh was relieved his friend was getting the assistance he needed when he saw Prince Ozai and his family approaching the table.

"I see you're stealing my guests from me, brother," Ozai commented while sitting down at the table and scowling at Iroh as Azula sat down beside while Ursa and Zuko took whatever seats were available to them.

"I'm just entertaining them is all, Ozai. Besides, I'd say the party is going magnificently; the guests are enjoying themselves and Chief Hakoda has made many new friends such as Kosuke who promised to help him and his people," Iroh informed the mad prince who spared a quick, pointed glance at Himiko who maintained her smile and politely bowed to Ozai though she would have liked not to.

"What's more, even Father is enjoying himself. I haven't seen him so happy in quite some time," Iroh pointed out causing Zuko, Azula, Sokka, and Katara to look over their shoulders at the wizened Fire Lord who was wearing the same, bored scowl he did ever since the party started.

"Yeah, he's clearly having the time of his life," Sokka remarked under his breathe causing Katara to nudge him with her elbow and give him a brief, pointed gaze as Himiko laughed silently, having heard the comment.

"Perhaps you should throw parties more often, Ozai. In these trying times, a little humor here and there keeps people's hope alive," Iroh sagely advised his brother who scowled and looked at Iroh with a gaze that could kill many times over, but the Dragon of the West just calmly stared back at him.

"Playing the fool is your domain and this party is meant to raise awareness of Hakoda's plight. Speaking of which, how have you got on? This better not have been a waste of time," Ozai tersely asked Hakoda who jolted a bit before regaining his composure and clearing his throat.

"It's going well, Prince Ozai. My family and I befriended the royal family of the Kimun People and they pledged to send some of their warriors so long as they have joint command," Hakoda responded while motioning at the royal family where they were garbed in pelts of the animals they had killed and were refashioned to look more appropriate at formal settings.

"It figures you would get along with them. Who invited those savages anyway?" Ozai asked no one in particular with a gruff snort causing Zuko to awkwardly rub the back of his head before sucking in a breathe.

"I did, Father," Zuko meekly answered which made everyone in his family stare at him with Iroh and Ursa being just surprised while Ozai and Azula just looked upon him with scorn.

"Why would you do that, Zuzu?" Azula asked with a sickeningly sweet smirk causing the prince to fluster ever so slightly before narrowing his eyes at his sister.

"Because we aren't making any headway against the Earth Imperium or the Water Confederacy, we're just...delaying the inevitable. If we want to push them back, we're going to need more help," Zuko retorted, but Azula still wasn't convinced and neither was Ozai, but before he could shout his son down, Ursa glanced at him with a stare that seemed to say "Give him a chance."

Huffing, the mad prince glared at his son and said "Very well, I'll humor him. Who else did you have in mind, boy?" to which Zuko, despite wanting to melt in his chair, remained as calm as he could and spoke.

"Well, we should also consider bringing back Admiral Jeong Jeong. We need his military expertise and strategic mind now more than ever," Zuko pointed out to which Ozai scoffed and retorted with "Zhao is doing a better job than that coward ever did and where would you even consider we start looking for him, boy?"

"I might have an idea of where to look for Jeong Jeong, but convincing him to return is going to be no easy feat on account that he became disillusioned with how we were waging war," Iroh interjected causing Ozai to scrunch his brow and want to shake his head at such foolishness displayed by his elder sibling, but contented himself to just glowering at Iroh.

"Our enemies show us no quarter and we must respond in kind, brother. You used to understand this," Ozai spat causing Iroh without any sort of hesitation and with a look of shame on his face, to nod as he recounted his siege of Ba Sing Se and how victory was nearly at hand, but at what cost?

"Once, when I was a...different man, but now I see things differently. We can still win battles without losing our humanity, but I digress," Iroh calmly replied as he clasped Zuko's shoulder and gave him a supportive gaze.

"I will speak to Father about bringing Jeong Jeong back, but no promises. We all know he doesn't look kindly upon desertion," Iroh informed his nephew who nodded knowing that what he was suggesting was not something that was going to over well with everyone.

"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko thanked Iroh while bowing to him and though it was only for a brief moment, Himiko saw that the young prince still had more to say, but kept his mouth which the shaman chocked up to reluctance.

"Speak your mind, Prince Zuko," Iroh encouraged his nephew who spared a glance at his uncle and feeling invigorated after his earlier success, he sat up straight and sucked in a breathe before telling everyone what it is he wanted to say.

"...We need to find the Avatar," Zuko proclaimed eliciting a collective groan from Ozai and Azula which was a sentiment Ursa shared, but nevertheless she forced a kind, supportive smile on her face for her son's sake.

"Zuko, your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all tried to find them and failed. It's been over a century and no one has heard so much of a trace of the Avatar's whereabouts so trying to do so now would be a fool's errand," Iroh gently admonished Zuko whose reassured expression deflated which brought no end of joy to his younger sister as she mercilessly decided to capitalize on this moment to taunt her brother.

"There's also the fact that even if the Avatar did show themselves, they would be more inclined to join the Earth Imperium and the Water Confederacy so all you would really accomplish is making a powerful enemy even more powerful," Azula pointed out making Zuko avert his gaze downward much to her delight causing Katara to sigh softly and speak up for the prince.

"Well, if there's a chance the Avatar is out there, then we should take it no matter how small it is. Like Zuko, I haven't given up hope that they're out there and neither should all of you," Katara passionately stated making Azula scoff and glower at her with a gaze that could kill many times over, but Katara stood her ground.

"Well, I guess the task of finding the Avatar is made for you two considering you both want to waste resources chasing after a fairy tail," Azula venomously shot back with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips making Katara narrow her eyes, but somehow found the restraint to not shout a scathing curse which might jeopardize the alliance her father set up.

"Hey, just because we're allies doesn't mean you get to talk to my sister that way. Look, I believe looking for some guy with crazy magical powers is just as pointless as you do, but you didn't have to go out of your way to insult Katara or Zuko," Sokka pointed out which made the princess grunt as she thought of course it was necessary to insult them; if a plan was stupid, why not let the recipients know that?

"You should learn to control your children, Hakoda," Ozai commented causing the chieftain to sigh softly as he while he normally would have retorted with a quip of his own, he bit his tongue, but Kya wasn't having any of it.

"We don't control them through fear if that's why you're saying, Prince Ozai. Ours is a relationship built on trust," Kya replied which made Ozai break out into a fit of mocking laughter which finally broke through Hakoda's calm expression as he narrowed his eyes at the mad prince and clenched his fists ever so slightly.

"Trust is for fools, fear is the only thing you can rely on," Ozai retorted while never losing the smug grin on his face causing Kya to grunt while Himiko took a sip of her drink, wiped her lips with her napkin, and stared at the mad prince dead in the eye.

"There's no better force multiplier, Prince Ozai. It's why Prince Iroh's troops were so dedicated to him and why they followed his orders to retreat from Ba Sing Se despite their doubts," Himiko defended Kya causing the Water Tribe matriarch to cast a grateful nod at the shaman who returned the gesture, but the mad prince was unconvinced.

"I'm supposed to take lessons from a woman whose never set foot on a battlefield?" Ozai remarked making a smile tug at the corner of Himiko's lips as she was very, _**very**_ eager to show him why yes, he should be doing just that, but the time to assert her dominance would come and she was more than willing to wait.

"Not at all, Prince Ozai. It's just that in my experience, one's workers tend to work harder and show more devotion should they feel that their work and they themselves are being appreciated. Granted, my only servant is my carriage driver, Ping, but the point still stands," Himiko coolly replied while taking another sip from her drink causing the mad prince to snort, but otherwise say nothing as he stood up from his chair.

"How you became so wealthy with your manner of thinking is beyond me; come Azula, we have other guests we need to speak to," Ozai commanded to which Azula dutifully stood up and followed him, but not before shooting a smug glance at Zuko and Katara who glared back at her.

"I should take my leave as well; I too need to speak to other guests," Himiko informed her acquaintances while sitting up from her chair and respectfully bowing to them, but just as she was about to walk away Katara called out to her.

"Thank your for supporting us, Kosuke," Katara told the shaman who grinned and nodded at the waterbender as she couldn't help but compare her to Yumi; one had untapped potential that could be honed with a proper teacher while the other had the skill to fight other benders, just not the power.

"Of course; it's like I said, I have no problem sharing my wealth with a good cause," Himiko responded with the genial smile never leaving her face as Sokka sized her up now that they didn't have Ozai and Azula breathing down their necks.

"Like what you see, pretty boy?" the shaman playfully teased the warrior and slowly traced her finger over her belly for emphasis causing Sokka to sputter and avert his gaze before regaining his composure.

"N-no, I mean yes, I mean...never mind. It's just that I'm wondering what it is you do that got you invited to this place full of hot headed jerks and snobs. Uh, not you Prince Iroh; you, Princess Ursa, and Zuko are great," Sokka blubbered in an attempt to save face and thankfully all the wizened general did was raise a brow while Kya narrowed her eyes at her eldest child.

"Heh heh, why indeed. I'll tell you, but I fear the reason would be lost on you and your father. However, I think your sister and your mother would understand," Himiko responded as she took a sip from her drink and set it down on the table.

"Now then, look carefully at the clothing the guests are wearing, especially the ones the Kimun delegation are wearing, and see how they all look like royalty," Himiko urged everyone at the table while making a grandiose, sweeping motion with her arm causing Katara to do so and was in awe at how extravagant the noblewomen's dresses looked.

"Okay, they look fancy and shiny, what's your point?" Sokka flatly inquired forcing Katara to resist the urge to slap a palm to her forehead while Kya just rolled her eyes and shook her head as Himiko smirked at the warrior.

"Who do you think made the clothing that made them look fancy and shiny?" the shaman responded causing Sokka to tilt his head and purse his lips before his eyes lit up in realization.

"Oh, I get it! Well, if you can get rich doing that, then Katara, maybe you and mom should do it too since you know, women are-"

"Sokka, watch what you say," Hakoda interrupted his first born while casting a disapproving gaze at him causing the warrior to deflate and shut his mouth as Himiko propped her forearm against the table and leaned her face closer to Sokka's.

"You were going to say because women are better at sewing than men are, weren't you? I advise you to change that viewpoint as soon as possible as your people are in a precarious situation and espousing such beliefs will earn you few friends," Himiko calmly, told the warrior with an ever so slight edge to her voice causing Sokka to lean as far back in his chair as possible until the shaman retracted her face, put her hands back in her sleeves, and released a breathe.

"Forgive me for that uncivilized turn of events, Chief Hakoda. I just dislike people assuming something of me or lack thereof because of what I happen to be," Himiko explained causing the chieftain to mentally sigh in relief that the shaman was still very much on board with helping his people and that Sokka hadn't chased her off with his statements.

"I understand and I apologize for any offense that my son's words may have caused," Hakoda apologized while casting a quick glare at Sokka who sheepishly looked away causing Himiko to graciously nod.

"Little offense taken, but nothing that won't stop me from giving your people financial support. Enjoy the party," Himiko replied while respectfully bowing to the Water Tribe Delegation and Prince Iroh who all returned the gesture as the shaman departed from the group and went over everything that had just transpired.

She surmised that Hakoda, his family, and their people could possibly be allies, but if they refused then that was fine. She and Ying Mei were coping and just getting room and board for a short time would suffice when their mistress's tasks inevitably forced them to travel from nation to nation.

* * *

"Mei Ling, I'm going on my break!" a dark skinned woman with blue eyes, black hair, and a heavyset build shouted over her shoulder while exiting the "massage" parlor she was employed at where she made her way to the roof of the building.

Sighing, the woman leaned against the railing and stared off into the distance before taking her gourd off of her belt and taking a large sip from it where she let out a cathartic breathe upon feeling the alcoholic beverage rejuvenate her.

"Long day?" an apparition, the very same one that had contacted Himiko, inquired with a grin causing the woman to chuckle softly as the phantom leaned against the railing as well while absentmindedly swishing her tails.

"Yeah, one of the customers turned out to be an undercover cop so you know, being interrogated for three hours was fun. We managed to make him go away after giving him a bribe," the woman explained as she took another long swig from her gourd where she felt the stress she accumulated from the predicament fade away.

"How much money did you guys give him?" the phantom asked making the woman cock her brow and shoot her a wide grin.

"Who said anything about giving him money?" the woman retorted making the spirit and her agent share a chuckle with one another before looking out in the distance where they saw another group of refugees enter the city.

"It's weird, you know? Everyone complains about Ba Sing Se, but there are still folk fighting tooth and nail to get in," the woman pointed out which made the apparition nod slowly as she meticulously looked over the group of refugees and felt nothing but pity upon seeing that while they were relieved that they were in the city, they still clearly mourned their lost homes or those they lost along the way.

"We will rectify this situation in my world of light. Himiko has told me she nearly has enough chi to free me from my confinement so I need you to meet up with her as soon as possible and help speed this process along," the apparition ordered to which the woman nodded slowly and uncertainly pursed her lips causing the phantom to raise a brow and fold her arms.

"Speak your mind, Ying Mei," the spirit said causing Ying Mei to sigh heavily as she looked down at the ground as if it help her say what she wanted to tell the apparition before lifting her head and staring into the phantom's eyes.

"It's just that...my whole life is here and I know it ain't perfect, but I'm making a good run of it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I don't want to leave it all behind," Ying Mei answered causing the apparition to nod understandingly before taking a step toward her agent and placing a firm, assuring hand on her shoulder.

"I understand; if you want to back out, I'm sure Himiko can handle-"

"It's fine, I'll go, I just...wanted you to know my feelings on the matter. I'll head home after my shift and grab my gear," Ying Mei dutifully stated to which the apparition nodded and cordially bid her farewell with a polite, respectful bow causing Ying Mei to return the gesture as the phantom ebbed away.

Taking another swig from her gourd, Ying Mei wiped her lips with her forearm before heading back inside where she politely greeted any of her coworkers she came across and headed to the front counter. Once there, she saw her manager, Mei Ling, arguing with a woman who looked like she tried to make herself look like she came from the slums, but the proper hair style that was disheveled and the scent of ornate perfume made it clear that the woman was from the upper ring.

"I told you no woman here is going to want to serve you! You're just going to have to wait until one of our men is available!" Mei Ling said in a tone that clearly indicated that she was near her breaking point with this woman, but was trying to remain at least somewhat calm for the sake of professionalism and satisfying the customer.

"And I told you that I don't a man to serve me! I want a woman!" the patron retorted causing Mei Ling to scrunch her brow and tightly shut her eyes as it was the only thing preventing her from exploding like a volcano.

"Something wrong, boss?" Ying Mei inquired while politely bowing to the patron who was taken aback from the gesture considering the treatment Mei Ling had given her before returning the gesture.

"Ying Mei, thank goodness you're here! This _valued customer_ is being particularly belligerent in that one of our _masseurs_ would be happy to serve her, but she wants a _masseuse_ for some strange reason!" Mei Ling explained while shooting the patron a quick, blink and you'll miss it stink eye which the patron caught as she narrowed her eyes at the manager as Ying Mei nodded slowly and regarded the patron with a blank stare.

"How much time did you pay for, darling?" Ying Mei questioned the patron who internally sighed in relief that someone was finally listening to her.

"One hour and thirty minutes," the patron answered to which Ying Mei nodded and gestured for the customer to follow her upstairs where, after a moment of surprise, did so though both of them saw Mei Ling's expression darken.

"I didn't realize you were one of _those_ people," Mei Ling stated with her now harsh voice being barely above a whisper, but all Ying Mei did was sigh heavily and stare at her boss without any sort of malice in her eyes.

"What I is is your loyal employee who's trying to satisfy the customer and keep your business running. Still, if you don't want me here, that's fine. This is going to be my last shift anyhow," Ying Mei responded while beckoning the patron to follow her where Mei Ling, after a moment of stunned silence trying to process what she said, opened her mouth to say something only to close it and stalk away.

"I can come back some other time; I don't want you to get fired," the patron told Ying Mei who waved off her concern and opened the door to a dimly lit room with the only light being some glowing crystals.

"Like I said, this is going to be my last shift because I need to take care of some business in the Fire Nation," Ying Mei replied which made the patron's eyes go as wide as saucers and had to take a moment to process what she just heard before placing her hands on Ying Mei's shoulder.

"The F-Fire Nation!? Why would you want to go there!?" the patron yelled incredulously causing Ying Mei to put a finger to her lip causing the customer to nervously rub the back of her head and apologize to the people in the adjacent rooms.

"Why do you want to go to the Fire Nation!? Remember what they did to the Air Nomads? They could have done the same thing to us if we didn't attack first!" the patron loudly whispered both out of frustration and genuine concern for Ying Mei even though she just met her causing the masseuse to gently remove her hands from her shoulders.

"Look, it's fine. I have a friend...well...yeah...a friend there who needs help with something so I'm going to go help her," Ying Mei assured the patron who still didn't seem entirely convinced, but didn't argue the point further.

"I hope you know what you're doing; speaking of which, how do we get started?" the patron inquired causing Ying Mei to gesture to the clothing rack hanging on the wall with her head while walking toward the door.

"First, I leave the room while you undress, hang your clothes, and lay face down on the bed. Then I'll knock after a moment has passed and you tell me whether or not I can come in," Ying Mei informed the patron who blushed slightly at having to undress before nodding as Ying Mei exited the room and gently shut the door.

"Okay Himiko, where is you? I don't want to look all over the land of pyromaniacs," Ying Mei mumbled to herself as she closed her eyes and intensely concentrated on the chi signatures within Ba Sing Se before honing in on the chi signatures beyond the impenetrable city.

While it took a massive amount of focus and nearly all of her energy, she managed to extend her senses to the Fire Nation despite it being halfway across the world and managed to hone in on Himiko's chi signature. Concentrating further, she saw a mental picture of the shaman at a party of some sort which made the masseuse laugh lightheartedly.

"No surprise you're a high society gal, now I just need to find where you live," Ying Mei quietly said to herself as she focused on residual traces of Himiko's chi and saw an image of a small, humble, but regal looking house in the capital of the Fire Nation.

"Quaint," Ying Mei quipped before hearing the patron call out to her causing Ying Mei to be knocked her out of her stupor and take a drink from her gourd which immediately restored all of her lost stamina.

"Coming," Ying Mei said as she brushed some of her hair over her shoulder and entered the room where she found her half naked client laying face down on the bed.

"Alright, anywhere specific you want me to focus on?" the masseuse asked as she cracked her knuckles with a loud pop eliciting a nervous yelp from the patron.

"Not in particular," the client responded causing Ying Mei to nod as she sucked in a breathe and let it back out before lightly digging her fingers and the base of her hand onto the pressure points in her patron's upper back.

"Just remember this don't have to get...intimate if you don't want it to and if it does, you can tell me to stop anytime you want," the agent of the apparition assured her client who could only groan as she simultaneously felt in a state of bliss and slight pain because of Ying Mei's strong fingers.

"O-okay," the client managed to get out through a groan as she felt a tremor of pain and euphoria travel up her spine when Ying Mei firmly pressed her thumbs onto another set of pressure points.

"So, what's your name?" Ying Mei inquired as she moved onto the lower back and repeated what she did on the upper back making her client moan as she was now thinking that it was the best money she ever spent.

"Jin," the client responded before grunting as Ying Mei pressed the base of her palm into her sides making release a short breathe.

"That's a nice name; so, what's a girl all the way from the upper ring doing in the slums? Surely there are more reputable places of business you could have gone to," Ying Mei pointed out making Jin flush and sigh heavily as now more than ever, she wanted to just disappear.

"Was I that obvious?" Jin asked sheepishly as it seemed going through all that effort to make it look like she was just like anyone else in the lower ring was for naught.

"You did a good job hiding yourself, it's just that I've learned how to tell who's an elephant rat and who's a poodle monkey due to living in this...well...shithole for so long. Kinda had to if I wanted to see another day," Ying Mei remarked and although she meant it as a comedic jab at her circumstance in order to break the ice, Jin pursed her lips as she thought she may have offended the masseuse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to-"

"You didn't say anything wrong, darling. I was just joking about my life is all; a laugh there or there can keep you out of that dark place, you know?" Ying Mei lightly interrupted making Jin purse her lips and narrow her eyes as she glared at the inside of the bed as if it had wronged her in some way.

"Honestly, I don't know if I have it in me to laugh right now. I'm supposed to marry the son of some wealthy merchant in a few days and he's a nice man from what I've seen, it's just that...I don't love him. My parents say I will in time and I'm not opposed to loving him, but who knows how long that's going to take? I...I don't want to live the rest of my life with a complete stranger," Jin admitted with a weary, exasperated sigh making Ying Mei sympathetically stare down at her client and reassuringly patted her shoulder before resuming the massage.

"That's a rough deal, darling. Have you told your folks how you feel?" Ying Mei inquired making Jin groan miserably and released a long, labored breathe which the masseuse took as a yes and that it didn't go well.

"Ugh, my parents said that I would be selfish to not go through with this and to think about how the marriage will benefit our family," Jin answered while a few unseen tears fell from her eyes causing Ying Mei to suddenly be very grateful that she was single and quite honestly, wanted to remain one if the cost of being married was being turned into a servant without freewill.

"Sure, it'd be selfish to not go through with it, but that's ain't necessarily a bad thing. I mean, what's the worse that's going to happen if you don't marry this feller? Sure, you and your folks might lose out on some perks, but you'd still be better off than most folks," Ying Mei pointed out making Jin snarl lowly as while she understood that the masseuse was just trying to help, what Ying Mei just said made her want to flip out.

"I wish I had that choice, but unfortunately I don't. Not only would I bring shame upon the family for not going through with it, but their treatment of me would...worsen after the fact," Jin replied gruffly which made Ying Mei raise a brow in the sudden change of tone and decided to tread more carefully from here on out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tick you off. I was just trying to offer some advice on your situation is all," Ying Mei assured Jin who mentally chastised herself for overreacting and nearly ruining the one moment of relaxation she had in a while.

"It's fine, I'm sorry for getting catty. I know you were just trying to help," Jin replied in a much lighter, friendlier tone of voice which made Ying Mei grin slightly as now she decided to test the waters a bit.

"Is this okay?" Ying Mei asked as she grasped Jin's butt and squeezed it all making Jin squeak and blush lightly.

"Yes, that's fine," Jin replied making Ying Mei nod as she cracked her knuckles and rolled her wrists before digging her fingers and the base of her palm onto the pressure points making the noblewoman twitch and moan.

"How about this?" Ying Mei asked as she got onto the bed and rested her behind atop of Jin's head while being very careful not to force her full weight down on client's head making Jin flush like a tomato.

"Y-yes," Jin managed to get out in a voice barely above a whisper making Ying Mei chuckle in amusement as thus far, Jin was proving to be one of her favorite clients.

"You know, I'm starting to think your problem with the arranged marriage ain't just because of the reasons you've told me," Ying Mei remarked with a grin as she dug her fingers into Jin's anus eliciting a loud yelp from her client who twitched and felt like she had melted into the bed as she felt a sense of warmth flow over her.

"Okay, well, it's blatantly obvious I'm attracted to girls as well as guys and my parents are hoping that by getting married, my feelings for them will go away," Jin explained making Ying Mei nod slowly as she got off of her client who confusedly looked at her only to see Ying Mei walking back to the bed with a bottle of oil in hand.

"No offense darling, but your folks sound like assholes," Ying Mei replied as she got back into her original position atop Jin and after asking permission, pulled down her undergarments and rubbed some of the oil on her hands.

"Well, there's one other thing..." Jin trailed off as she made a waving motion with her hand causing some of the earthen material that the floor was made of to break down into sand and then move about like a gentle tide at the beach before going inert.

"You're a sandbender? Not many folks know how to do that 'cept for the fellas in the desert," the masseuse noted as she proceeded rub and dig her fingers into Jin's anus making the noblewoman tense up and her breathing to come out in quick, labored spurts.

"Not a good one, but yeah, I am. I want to get better at it, but my parents keep telling me to stop as they think my fiance will be driven off because...because-"

"Because it'll show that a pretty little thing like you is tougher than your man," Ying Mei lightly cut off as the masseuse requested that Jin turn over onto her back which the noblewoman did.

"Yeah, but it's not fair. I mean, I have these abilities so shouldn't I try to improve them?" Jin stated with a soft sigh making Ying Mei remain silent as she took off her robe and tunic leaving her in nothing but her undergarments and set her clothing down on a nearby chair.

"I ain't a bender so I wouldn't know too much about that, but I think you should try to get better at it anyhow. Not just so you can defend yourself, but also to get the satisfaction from doing something you like even if other folk don't look too kindly on it," Ying Mei advised her client as she massaged the pressure points in Jin's legs making the noblewoman feel as if her limbs turned into jelly.

"I'll try, thank you," Jin gratefully told Ying Mei who smiled warmly and nodded as she finished up tending to her client's legs and proceeded to sit on Jin's upper chest where she gently grabbed one of Jin's arms.

"So, you come to the lower ring often?" Ying Mei questioned as she pressed her digits onto the pressure points in the limb making Jin grunt as she placed her hand on Ying Mei's thigh which the masseuse didn't mind.

"Yeah, I go to this tea shop owned by a man called Pao. The tea is okay, but I go there because I can be myself rather than the obedient doll my family wants me to be," Jin replied making Ying Mei nod as she set down Jin's arm and grasped the other before repeating the process as the noblewoman looked up at Ying Mei.

"Do you have a family?" Jin asked and almost immediately, she regretted asking as Ying Mei's expression darkened and while Ying Mei didn't mean for it to look that way, it seemed as if she was glowering at Jin.

"Ma died when I was young and pa...let's leave it at some people weren't meant to be parents," was Ying Mei's evasive answer causing Jin to wisely decided not to ask further about the subject as Ying Mei groped her breasts and asked her permission to proceed which the noblewoman granted.

"Sorry," Jin told the masseuse who waved her off and kneaded the noblewoman's breasts causing Jin to groan and lean her head back.

"It's fine, you couldn't have known," Ying Mei replied while flashing her a slight grin to show that there was no hard feelings and after a few minutes had passed, stopped and turned around where she grabbed Jin's crotch.

"Is this okay?" Ying Mei inquired all while Jin flushed heavily and while for a moment she considered saying no, she ultimately relented.

"Y-yes," Jin replied causing Ying Mei to nod and started off slow making Jin tense up and throw her head back as he breathing became more hurried.

Picking up the pace, Jin balled her hands into a fist where she unconsciously caused some parts of the floor to turn into hardened sand making Ying Mei raise a brow as she then plunged her fingers into her client's crotch. Gasping, Jin grasped Ying Mei's arm which the masseuse didn't mind as after a few minutes, Jin was limply lying in the bed completely covered in sweat with her legs erratically twitching and white fluid leaking out of her crotch. Wiping her hands, Ying Mei walked over to the counter where she retrieved a towel and helped dry off her exhausted client who was still trying to catch her breathe while Ying Mei walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

"I'll see you off at the front desk. I'll ask one of my friends to tend to you if you decide to come back," Ying Mei told her client who shot her a haggard grin and tiredly nodded as Ying Mei picked up her clothes and exited the room she made herself decent before making her way to the front desk where she ran into one of her coworkers.

"Mayumi, the female client I had just now, Jin, prefers to be treated by a woman so maybe you could-"

"If she comes back, tell her to ask for me," Ying Mei's coworker responded causing Ying Mei to sigh in relief as they both saw Jin making her way down the stairs and towards the front desk.

"Here, this is for you,"Jin said as she handed Ying Mei ten gold pieces making both Ying Mei and Mayumi's eyes go as wide as saucers before Ying Mei took the very generous tip.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, that's mighty kind," Ying Mei responded while bowing to Jin who returned the gesture before exiting the establishment causing the masseuse to already feel homesick which her friend noticed and offered her a cup of water.

"It's that time, huh?" Mayumi whispered making Ying Mei nod slowly as she tossed the now empty water cup into the trash and leaned back against the counter while staring up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, my mistress needs me to meet up with one of her other servants and against my better judgement, a friend of mine to get the ball rolling on her plans," Ying Mei mumbled in response causing Mayumi to nod slowly as she turned to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder while staring right into Ying Mei's eyes.

"Look, I don't quite understand what you got yourself into, but be careful and since the authorities are going to repossess your house in your absence, you and your friends are welcome to stay at my place if you find yourselves in this corner of the world," Mayumi assured her friend who let a smile tug at the corner of her lips and pulled Song in for a quick embrace which her coworker returned before they broke the hold.

"Thank you," Ying Mei replied as she and her manager made eye contact and although they currently weren't on the best of terms, Ying Mei still politely bowed to her and thanked her for employing for so long before heading back to her house.

As she was making her way back home, however, she got the feeling that she was being watched and that whoever was doing so was getting closer so she discreetly removed the thick, taught hemp rope around her robe she was using as a belt. Tightly looping both ends around her hands, Ying Mei continued to walk home and just as she turned the corner onto the street she usually took when going home, she felt the air shift behind her. Sprawling to the ground, Ying Mei saw a myriad of stone hands go flying over her head causing her to turn on a dime and dance, weave, and duck under the next volley of projectiles. However, she let out a surprised yelp when she suddenly was catapulted forward by an unseen force coming from the ground and was struck full force by a stone fist making her taste blood and feel as if the weight of the world came crashing down onto her skull.

" _I can't dodge them forever,"_ Ying Mei thought to herself as while the dimly lit street and the dead of night made it hard to see, she still was able to discern where at least some of her attackers was coming from judging from where the projectiles were being launched.

Sprinting toward them while skillfully maneuvering around any earthen pillars that suddenly jut from the ground, dodging any other stone projectiles headed her way, and jumping over the wall of rock that abruptly came in front of her, Ying Mei managed to close the distance between herself and her attackers. Now that she was up close, she could see that her attackers were Dai Lee agents which didn't surprise her as they ambushed other people for less serious offenses. However, a thought occurred to her as she seamlessly dipped to the side to avoid an earthen pillar suddenly shooting from the ground and slugged an agent across the face causing blood to fly from his mouth and several teeth along with it.

" _If they were listening to me, then that means...oh no,"_ Ying Mei realized as she wrapped the length of rope around the agent's neck and placed him in front of her as an unwilling meat shield where he received a stone fist to the gut.

Wheezing and coughing up blood, the Dai Lee agent doubled over where Ying Mei quickly finished him off by simultaneously wrenching his neck back while pushing down on his spine with her knee. Due to knowing how to use her bulk to its fullest, she was able to break his neck with such force that it shut down all of his lower body functions, killing him instantly. Swiftly removing the length of rope around his neck, Ying Mei rolled over his body to avoid a storm of stone fingers launched from the Dai Lee agent's gloves while removing the spike on the hat from the agent she just killed. Feeling the ground underneath her shift, Ying Mei leaped back just as they were trying to sink her into the ground, but now could only brace herself for the stone the size of a melon hurtling toward her. Grimacing as the rock impacted her with the force of a meteor and left a nasty bruise on her abdomen, Ying Mei forced down the pain as she landed on her feet and charged toward the agents. Jumping toward them when they liquefied the ground in front of her, Ying Mei tackled one of them to the ground and wasted no time in plunging the spike right through his throat with a sickening squelch.

Ignoring his gargling as he choked on his own blood, Ying Mei removed the spike and flung it at the other agent who bashed it away with his off hand which gave Ying Mei enough time to roll towards him. Just as she stood up next to him, she had to lean her head to the side to avoid the stone fist flying at head which passed mere inches from her face and scraped off some of her flesh causing blood to pour down her scalp. Hissing, she ignored the pain as best she could and tightly wrapped the length of rope around the Dai Lee agent's wrist which trapped the limb, but the agent responded by stomping on her foot with his stone boot. Howling in pain as she felt every bone in her foot crack like glass, Ying Mei yanked him towards her and viciously thrust her head forward like a spear against his face causing his nose to shatter and made him feel lighter than air. Growling, Ying Mei roughly twisted his wrist in the wrong direction making the agent cry out as he was forced onto his belly with Ying Mei sitting on top of him.

"I already know why you attacked me so I ain't even going to bother to ask, but I will ask did you fellers kidnap Jin!?" Ying Mei roared while tightening the loop around the agent's wrist and roughly kneeing the back of his head causing the agent to curse and spit up some blood, but all he did was turn his face toward Ying Mei's and smirk at her with blood caked teeth.

"You're not going to get any answers from me," the Dai Lee agent sneered making Ying Mei scowl as she reared her foot back and bashed her knee against the back of his head which completely caved it in and sent bits of bone, blood, and flesh flying across the area.

Releasing a breathe, Ying Mei got up while favoring her uninjured leg and hopped over to her gourd which had fallen during the skirmish. Reaching down, Ying Mei grasped it and took a long drink from it which healed her broken foot and caused the bruise on her abdomen to fade away. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, Ying Mei focused on Jin's chi signature and to her dismay, her fear was confirmed when she sensed that Jin was away from the city and saw a mental picture of her being forcibly led to a lake.

" _'Course of all days I chose to be careless it had to be the day when my mistress recalled me,"_ Ying Mei mentally criticized herself as she picked up the spike she used to impale one of the Dai Lee agents and rushed home as fast as she could.

Upon arriving, she meticulously scanned the area for anymore threats by using both of her chi sense and her instincts and found none. However, she did not lower her guard as she entered the domicile and did a careful double check just in case she overlooked something, but again no threats were around. Relieved, but still on guard, she barged into her room and knelt down next to her bed where she reached underneath it and pulled out a case. Opening it, Ying Mei retrieved a long, thick bladed dagger, a modified repeating crossbow, a myriad of throwing knives which could easily double as close combat weapons if needed, and whole belts full of explosives in cast iron shells. Hiding the knives and crossbow in her robe, slinging the crossbow over her shoulder, and tying the belts full of explosives around her waist and over her other shoulder, Ying Mei honed in on Jin's chi.

"Hang on, Jin. I'm coming for you," Ying Mei stated with fire in her eyes as she did a long, close scan of the outside before exiting her house and running as fast as her legs could carry her.


	4. Chapter 4 Reckoning

Ch.4

Reckoning

 _Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of its respective owners, Ocs belong to me_

"Alright, you two rest up here and I'll come back for the witness statements later," an officer told Samsara and Yumi while leading them to the barracks and gesturing at the empty beds causing the young girl to sigh in relief.

"Thank you, Officer," Yumi replied while bowing to the lawman who returned the gesture as Yumi trudged over to one of the beds and tiredly plopped down on it face first while Samsara just sat on the edge of another.

"So, you wanted to know the reason for my...brazen behavior, right?" Samsara inquired causing Yumi to sit up straight while narrowing her eyes at the spirit with all of her exhaustion seemingly gone for the moment.

"Yes, explain yourself now," Yumi demanded while letting out a puff of smoke from her nostrils eliciting an amused chuckle from Samsara who brushed her red hair over her shoulders.

"Just let me make sure of one thing first," Samsara responded causing Yumi to glower at the spirit who did a thorough scan of the room and after seeing that no one was watching them, smirked.

"My patience is running out," Yumi seethed as she balled her hand into a fist causing the spirit to understandingly nod and stand up to which the noble girl tilted her head, but maintained her frustrated glare.

"As well it should," Samsara retorted as she transformed into her true form causing Yumi to widen her eyes and nearly fall off the bed as she could only just stare up at Samsara with her mouth agape.

"Y-you're a-"

"A spirit? Why yes I am; I hope this answers your question," Samsara interrupted as she shifted back into her human visage and absorbed any slurry on the floor that appeared because of her transformation. Yumi, for her part, could only mindlessly nod as while that answered one question, a million others suddenly formed in her head like why Samsara was here of all places, how did she even know Zhen Liu in the first place, and what her intentions were.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing you want to know why I'm here," Samsara assumed while filing her nails causing Yumi to nod making the spirit purse her lips and cross one leg over another.

"Well, the truth is...I don't really have one. Not a meaningful one anyway," Samsara remarked as she put away her nail file and stretched her shoulders causing Yumi to raise a brow.

"What do you mean?" the noble girl inquired as she recalled, from her limited knowledge of spirits, is that they would interact with humans if they harmed their homes or the environment in a significant way. Armed with this knowledge, Yumi ever so slightly scooted away from Samsara which didn't escape the spirit's notice as she raised a brow, but decided it wasn't worth pushing the issue.

"I mean that the Fire Nation has been my home for over...uh...um...two hundred years, give or take, and I really have no intention of moving. Plus, it's a great place to drain people of their chi since the Fire Nation doesn't care about resolving Spirit World matters," Samsara answered causing Yumi to slowly nod and defensively, but discreetly curl up which Samsara noticed, but again didn't push the issue.

"So you're just here then?" Yumi ventured causing Samsara to nod as she nodded and leaned back on the bed slightly.

"Yep, I'm just a gal trying to live her life," Samsara answered while letting out a loud, obnoxious yawn causing Yumi to grunt as she went over the information the spirit told her before narrowing her eyes when a thought occurred to her.

"Is draining chi your form of drug addiction?" Yumi asked to which Samsara huffed, sat up straight, narrowed her eyes at the young girl who didn't back down and stared back at her.

"Jeez, harsh much? It's less a drug addiction and more of food addiction meaning that while I don't need chi to sustain myself, I do it anyway since I like the feeling," Samsara replied with a dignified huff and put her hands on her hips for emphasis, but all Yumi did was huff causing more smoke to come out of her nostrils.

"And I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me that you could stop if you wanted to, right?" Yumi spat causing Samsara to roll her eyes, groan, and reach forward where she gently, but firmly grasped Yumi's wrist.

"Hey, what are you-" Yumi began only to gasp as her mind was suddenly flooded with the events from Samsara's life specifically pertaining to chi draining where the young girl saw that yes, Samsara's hobby was purely recreational and was not wholly dependent on it as a means of survival.

"Oh...um...sorry," Yumi quietly told the spirit and scooted closer to her making Samsara grunt as she released her grip on the noble and performed a slightly miffed shrug.

"Good, now get some rest," Samsara replied causing Yumi to release a breathe and lay down on the bed just as the officer from before came back with a scroll, ink pad, and paint brush in hand causing the noble to groan.

"Can't we do this a little bit later, officer?" Yumi implored causing the lawman to say nothing as he walked over to the duo and sat down on the edge of one of the beds while Samsara opted to lay down on her side.

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather we do this sooner rather than later considering your statements may help us in our search for the enemy," the officer explained eliciting a long, heavy sigh from Yumi as she sat up and winced a little when her broken arm started acting up.

"Of course," Yumi replied as she got sudden flashbacks to the attack and recalled how, after her mother was snatched from the carriage, that she was forcibly yanked out and tried to defend herself to no avail. Shuddering when she heard the voice and saw the faces of the warrior women in green kimonos and white face paint, Yumi tried to keep her cool as she sucked in a breathe and let it back out.

"My family and I were on our way to Prince Ozai's party with our escorts when we were forced to come to a stop because of a road block. When we tried to clear it, our attackers, whoever they are, ambushed us. My mother was pulled out of the carriage by a water tentacle while I was dragged out by women who looked like Avatar Kyoshi," Yumi explained and cringed upon recalling the sensation of her having her nose broken while the officer suddenly leaned forward making Samsara raise a brow.

"Women who looked like Avatar Kyoshi? Can you be more specific in their description?" the officer inquired in a tone that suggested that he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"Yes, their kimonos were lamellar plated, they had iron masks that looked like some kind of sea serpent, they had metal headdresses, and they were all wielding war fans," Yumi explained causing the officer to be taken aback and had to take a moment to process the information to which the young girl tilted her head while Samsara chuckled bemusedly upon recalling her brawl with Avatar Kyoshi.

"Those assassins who attacked you are the Kyoshi Warriors, but the reports never mentioned them wearing lamellar plating or iron masks. These assassins might just be one group of a larger whole," the officer surmised which was something Yumi had to take his word for while Samsara expression suddenly grew solemn when reminiscing about Kyoshi as she wondered why the Avatar let Chin and his army run roughshod over the entire Earth Kingdom without so much as lifting a finger.

"From what I remember, I thought the Kyoshi Warriors just protected the people on their peninsula. Why would they of all people get involved in the war?" Samsara asked causing the officer to look down at his shoes and tap his chin as that was a good question he didn't have the answer to...until his eyes lit up in realization.

"It must be because of Avatar Kyoshi's death! Without her around to keep the Earth Sovereignty army at bay-"

"Kyoshi Peninsula was easy pickings," Samsara finished as she was certain Kyoshi was kicking herself for not taking the initiative in the Spirit World as the officer furiously scribbled down the information on the scroll.

"I'm sorry, please continue," the officer told Yumi who slowly nodded and cleared her throat.

"After I was pulled out of the carriage, this guy with hookswords who seemed to be the leader told my dad that they were only here to kill him, but they would kill my mother and I too if that's what it took. I managed to get the Kyoshi Warriors off of me with firebending and that's when I heard my mom tell me to run so I did," Yumi elaborated causing the officer to nod and write the information down while Samsara wondered how Zhen Liu and, to a lesser extent, Ming were doing right about now.

"After that, I fell into the storm drain because I knew I wasn't going to get very far with my wounds and that's when everything went dark. When I woke up, Samsara and Mrs. Zhen Liu were tending to me. I wanted to go home after they finished, but Zhen Liu told me that it wasn't safe at the time," Yumi continued causing the lawman to be taken aback and look up at Yumi from his scroll making the young girl tilt her head.

"Zhen Liu, was it? She used to be a nurse in Prince Lu Ten's legion until she suffered severe injuries, particularly to her eyes, and because she couldn't work out while she was recuperating, put on a lot of weight as you've seen. Nowadays I hear she's a belly dancer in the...downtown district," the officer commented causing Yumi to widen her eyes as she wondered why Zhen Liu, if she had skills in the medical field, was working in such an occupation.

"I see. Um...anyway, the assassins attacked us again which is when Zhen Liu stayed behind to hold some of them off while Samsara and I fled. We got cornered in an alley which is when she...goaded them into attacking us," Yumi went on as she pictured Zhen Liu dancing the night away in front of some perverted patrons which made her blush a deep, tomato red while the officer turned his head and glared at Samsara.

"Are you serious?" the officer accusingly stated causing Samsara to sit up and give a casual shrug as if it was no big deal.

"Look, it's not like they would be able to hurt her with me around," the spirit said in defense of her actions, but the lawman wasn't convinced as he wrote something down in his scroll which Samsara saw said "One of the victims has an inflated, delusional sense of her combat skills." making her scowl.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" the officer inquired to which Samsara was tempted to say "Because I'm a fucking Rakshasi and I was about to tear out the hooksword guy's throat and lap up his blood with an honest to Brahma smile on my face.", but settled for a different answer.

"Let's just say I eat punks like those for breakfast," Samsara responded while mentally adding "Quite literally in my younger days." causing the officer to huff and write down what the spirit said on his scroll.

"What you did was reckless and put not only yourself, but your friend in trouble too! Next time, you keep them talking and wait for the authorities to arrive," the lawman fiercely admonished the spirit who resisted the urge to groan and roll her eyes and simply nodded as the officer then asked Yumi "Do you remember any distinct details about the leader?"

"Yeah, he had dark skin, black hair, he was wearing what seemed to be a mishmash of improvised armor, and he was leading other people about 16-18 years of age," Yumi explained causing the officer to nod slowly as he got up and left the room causing the noble girl and the rakshasi to exchange glances. A short moment later, the officer returned with more scrolls and sat down in his previous position where he carefully read the contents within before setting some of them aside.

"These sound like the guerrillas that have been giving our troops on the front lines some trouble. They call themselves the Freedom Fighters and from what the reports say, they consist of kids in their late teens or younger from around the Earth Imperium or Water Confederacy who were displaced by the war," the lawman elaborated causing Yumi to slowly nod as she processed the information and then wondered why these so called Freedom Fighters were so far away from the battlefront...unless the Fire Nation was really losing ground as she had heard.

"So they're a bunch of kids with a chip on their shoulder against the Fire Nation, eh? Can't say I really blame 'em minus the whole trying to kill us thing," Samsara quipped while picking her teeth with her nail causing the officer to tighten his grip on one of the scrolls while Yumi sighed softly.

"Those bunch of kids have enough numbers to be considered a legion and if they're here, that means our front lines have weakened to the point that a large guerrilla force like this was able to slip by them," the officer responded in a tone that was trying to make the rakshasi understand the severity of the situation and to his surprise, Samsara stopped picking her teeth and sat up straight where she looked down at the ground with a hand on her chin.

" _If the Fire Nation loses, the Earth Imperium and Water Confederacy are going to take over which means that I run the risk of being slain by their shamans,"_ Samsara analyzed with a slight sense of dread, but kept up the appearance of being as cool as a cucumber while trying to think of a way to do something about the Fire Nation's current predicament.

"Yumi, right? Going back to your previous statement, you said Zhen Liu stayed behind to fend them off, but how exactly did she manage that with her blindness and obesity?" the officer asked causing Yumi to try and think of an excuse for Zhen Liu while Samsara gazed at the officer with slightly narrowed eyes and grounded teeth.

"She's tougher than you think," Samsara said with a slight growl causing the lawman to raise a brow while Yumi worriedly glanced at the spirit who noticed the noble girl's expression, but ignored it.

"I don't doubt it, but military training alone doesn't explain how we found two dead bodies at her house," the officer pointed out making Samsara snort, but before she could say anything, a voice suddenly said "My grandparents taught me how to fight even with my physical impediments and considering the aforementioned corpses, I'd say they did a good job." Jolting, the trio looked in the direction of the sound where they saw a severely battered Zhen Liu, a horribly beaten Lian, and an exhausted Ming limp into the room where the belly dancer sat next to Samsara and across from Yumi.

"She managed to beat two Freedom Fighters and a Kyoshi Warrior too, Captain," Ming informed her fellow officer in defense of her friend who nodded slowly and glanced at Zhen Liu who told the young girl "Glad you're safe, Panda Lily."

"Alright, if you say she can hold her own, I believe you," the lawman replied causing Zhen Liu to mouth a silent thank you to her friend who nodded as Yumi suddenly embraced her making the former nurse grimace as the bruises on her midsection acted up.

"Thank you for helping me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and Samsara," Yumi gratefully told them causing Zhen Liu to smile through the pain and return the embrace while Samsara gave the young girl a genial two finger salute.

"My husband and I owe you two a great debt," Lian informed Zhen Liu and Samsara causing the spirit to say "You have nothing I want, but thanks for the offer." while the belly dancer pursed her lips and rubbed her chin.

"Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you spare some gold or silver pieces?" Zhen Liu hesitantly ventured causing Ming to narrow her eyes and raise a brow to which the belly dancer said "What, I have bills to pay."

"It's no trouble at all, we'll be sure to compensate you once we get back home," Lian assured the former nurse who internally sighed in relief as the officer began taking statements from her and Lian. While all this was happening, those in the police station were unaware of Himiko's astral projection and the phantom watching them from a corner in the room where no one, not even Samsara with her chi sense or Zhen Liu with her heightened sense of environmental awareness, were able to detect them.

 _"Ah, so you've finally found this Samsara. From what I've heard, she's a hedonist in every sense of the word,"_ the projection mused while Himiko folded her muscular arms and glared daggers at Samsara, but her gaze softened when glancing at Yumi who was leaning into her mother's embrace.

 _"She acts silly, but she's far more dangerous than she lets on as her aid to Avatar Kanna can attest to. I say we take her out as a precaution,"_ Himiko strongly advised to which the apparition nodded and clasped her herald's shoulder.

 _"I agree, but not now. There will be too many witnesses; wait until she gets back to her domain and then strike,"_ the projection ordered causing Himiko to dutifully nod before gazing at Yumi and Zhen Liu making the apparition slightly increase the pressure around her herald's shoulder.

 _"Speak your mind, Himiko,"_ the apparition stated causing the herald to slowly nod as she recalled Yumi's demonstrations of firebending prowess fondly while feeling nothing but sympathy for Zhen Liu's circumstances.

 _"I'm worried if I try to kill her, Zhen Liu and Yumi will defend her. I have no wish to strike them, especially Yumi,"_ Himiko confessed causing the phantom to nod as it reminded of her killing of Amaruq. Beaten half to death and stripped of her bending, the projection was willing to let the powerless avatar go at the point...until Amaruq swore that even without her bending, she would find a way to stop her. As soon as those words left her mouth, the phantom knew she couldn't let Amaruq go so she hardened her heart, snapped the powerless Avatar's neck to paralyze her, and then finished her off.

 _"I understand, killing children is an unsavory aspect of our work I wish to avoid at all costs, but sometimes our enemies will be children. At that point, they cease to be children, just enemy combatants, and should be treated as such. However, you are a skilled combatant so you should be able to neutralize them without killing them,"_ the apparition advised her herald who slowly nodded as she really didn't want to kill Yumi, especially the way her mistress did to Amaruq, nor did she want to slay Zhen Liu in similarly gruesome fashion. That being said, the world of light her mistress was building required sacrifice and she was hoping that neither Yumi or Zhen Liu were forced to become one.

 _"I understand, mistress. If I'm confronted with them, I'll disable them non-lethally,"_ Himiko replied causing the projection to nod proudly at her herald's sense of honor as they continued to listen to the conversation just in case pertinent information that they could use against their enemies came up.

* * *

With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Ying Mei sprinted down the empty, moon lit streets towards Jin's chi while making sure to keep a lookout for any Dai Lee agents. Seeing something in the distance, Ying Mei took cover behind a wall and peeked around it where she saw some of the government agents patrolling the streets. Quieting her breathing, Ying Mei ducked back into cover and took out one of her throwing knives where she remained perfectly still until they passed by her. Emerging from cover, Ying Mei flung the projectile which deeply embedded itself into the back of the agent's neck where he gurgled on his own blood, crumpled to the ground, and twitched erratically before going still. Before his two cohorts could process what happened, they were both shot through the throat with two razor sharp darts which poked out of the back of their necks causing them to collapse to the ground while clutching their necks, cough up a copious amount of blood, and then go limp.

"I see your skills are as sharp as ever," the presence commended causing Ying Mei to say nothing as she retrieved her weapons lodged in the agent's throats before continuing her pursuit with the phantom taking on the visage of Ying Mei's shadow.

"Thank you, mistress, but now ain't the time for compliments," Ying Mei replied as she did another quick, but thorough scan of the area to make sure she hadn't been outflanked.

"I understand, I merely came here to tell you that I'm guiding an ally toward you" the spirit informed her servant who raised a brow, but otherwise said nothing as she saw more Dai Lee agents in the distance.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where Jin is," Ying Mei responded as she took cover, scanned the area, and saw that there would be too many agents for her to engage directly even if she did take them by surprise.

"She's been taken to Lake Laogai," the phantom told her servant who nodded slowly as the spirit ebbed away and returned to the spirit world leaving Ying Mei alone to solve this mess she caused.

"Ying, it's me. Don't freak out," a voice quietly called out causing Ying Mei to jolt and look in the direction of the sound where she saw Mayumi take cover next to her with a very similar armament to the servant of the presence.

"What are you doing here? It's not safe-"

"And what you're doing is? Look, your spirit friend told me about what happened so I'm helping whether you want it or not," Mayumi silently, but sharply interrupted her friend who sighed softly before nodding as Mayumi peeked around the corner where Ying Mei could see the gears turning in her friend's head.

"Okay, let's go back and cut through the alleys. There are some buildings low enough to the ground that we can climb on to get to the rooftops. As long as we're careful, we can travel unseen," Mayumi stated causing Ying Mei to nod as she followed her friend with her crossbow ready to be fired at a moment's notice.

"Okay, any idea where to start looking?" Mayumi asked after they doubled back and found a building they could climb on causing Ying Mei to press her back against the wall, kneel down, and clasp her hands together with the palms facing upward.

"My spirit friend told me that they is taking Jin to Lake Laogai," Ying Mei answered as she lifted Mayumi onto the roof after she stepped on her hands who then extended her hand to her.

"Lake Laogai? Oh jeez," Mayumi groaned as Ying Mei jumped and grasped her friend's hand who strained to pull her friend onto the roof with beads of sweat pouring down her brow, and after she did, had to take a moment to catch her breathe.

"I'm aware of how bad things is," Ying Mei quietly replied with a slight huff as Mayumi took the lead with the servant of the presence bringing up the rear as they let a patrol of police officers pass by them before jumping onto the next rooftop.

"I don't think you do because we both know how the beloved Grand Secretariat is," Mayumi whispered in retort to which Ying Mei was unable to say anything in response as they jumped to the next rooftop and ducked into cover when they saw Dai Lee agents prowling on the building across from them.

"I'll take one if you take the other," Mayumi stated causing Ying Mei to nod as she discreetly looked over her cover at the agent before going out into the open and swiftly firing off a shot with Mayumi following suit. Gasping, one of the agents staggered about as Ying Mei's crossbow bolt pierced through his eye and out his skull where he then collapsed to the ground with blood pooling around his head before going still. The other could only let out a short, sharp yelp before going completely silent as Mayumi's dart hit him right between the eyes causing him to fall onto his back with his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Alright, let's move," Mayumi commanded, but just as she was about to take the lead again, Ying Mei grabbed her arm causing Mayumi to look over her shoulder at her friend and raise a brow.

"Let me take the lead; I have this chi sense that will make locating Jin easier," Ying Mei explained making Mayumi want to toss her friend in the crazy house, but considering she herself talked to a spirit earlier, it didn't seem too out of the ordinary now.

"Lead the way," Mayumi urged causing her friend to do so as they took out any Dai Lee agents they encountered that they couldn't pass by without being seen and let patrols pass by when they were too big in number. Finally, they got onto a building that overlooked the gates that separated the lower ring from the agrarian zone which was guarded by two sentries causing Mayumi to glance at her friend.

"Frustrated wife or prostitute?" Mayumi inquired causing Ying Mei to say "prostitute." making Mayumi leave her gear with her friend save for her throwing knives and hunting knife as she and her partner scooted over to the edge of the building they were on.

"Wait until I have them distracted before taking them out," Mayumi ordered as she untied her robe which left it loosely hanging over her shoulders which exposed her ample cleavage and part of her undergarments. Nodding, Ying Mei unfurled the length of rope she was using as a belt once more and pressed her back against the wall as Mayumi sucked in a breathe, let it back out, and forced a wide, sultry grin on her face.

"Hey there, fellas~," Mayumi purred as she emerged from the alleyway while sensually swaying her hips, but the guards remained stone faced at her display while Ying Mei discreetly crossed over to the next building.

"Ma'am, the Lower Ring is currently in lockdown. Step back and return to your home, please," one of the sentries professionally stated even as Mayumi embraced him and slowly traced her finger down his chest.

"Oh, come on; you guys stick to protocol so much that it must be frustrating, right? Why don't you come with me and release some of that tension?" Mayumi murmured while blowing into the guard's ear, but like last time the sentry wasn't fazed in the slightest and gently pushed Mayumi back while saying "Ma'am, the Lower Ring is currently in lockdown. Step back and return to your home, please."

"Oh, playing hard to get? I can respect that in a man," Mayumi whispered as Ying Mei emerged from wrapped her improvised garrote around the other sentry's throat, clamped a hand over his mouth, kicked the back of his knee to knock him off balance, and proceeded to drag him behind a nearby building.

"Ma'am, the Lower Ring is currently in lockdown. Step back and return to your home, please," the sentry repeated causing Mayumi to loosen her robe even more which exposed her chest wraps in full and her slightly chubby midsection.

"Are you sure, soldier boy?" Mayumi whispered huskily and even did a short, sensual dance to entice him, but all this made the sentry do was pinch the bridge of his nose and release a long, winded sigh.

"Ma'am, the Lower Ring-" the sentry began to say only to retch as Ying Mei wrapped her garrote around his throat and fiercely headbutted the back of his skull and while he was reeling, yanked him to the ground. Before he could recover, Ying Mei forcefully brought her elbow down on his forehead like a sledgehammer making him yelp before going limp causing the servant of the presence to release him and clutch her bloodied forehead on account of crashing her forehead against the sentry's metal helmet.

"Bad idea, bad idea," Ying Mei groaned before taking a swig from her gourd which healed her wound and caused the head splitting feeling in her skull to evaporate while Mayumi recovered her gear and retied her robe.

"You okay?" Mayumi worriedly asked her friend who replied "I'm fine." before standing up and shaking her head with a slight groan as she checked the both sentry's chi signature and to her relief, both of them were still alive.

"Let's go," Ying Mei urged causing Mayumi to nod as they entered the agrarian zone and made their way to Lake Laogai while staying out of sight of the occasional farmers they came across. True, they were far and in between and by the time any of the farmers informed the authorities, they would be too late to stop them, but better to be safe than sorry.

"Alright, Jin's chi stops here so let's be careful," Ying Mei advised as she readied her repeating crossbow, got down on her belly, and slowly inched her way to the edge of the hill overlooking Lake Laogai with Mayumi following suit. Carefully peeking over the hill, Ying Mei and Mayumi saw eight Dai Lee agents standing as still as statues near the edge of the lake, but were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"There don't seem to be an entrance anywhere so where'd they take her?" Ying Mei silently wondered while getting back into cover as Mayumi looked down at the ground with a hand on her chin before her eyes lit up in realization.

"It must be underwater, but our explosives won't work there," Mayumi analyzed out with a slight snarl as she thumped her fingers against her leg before saying "We need to make one of them expose the entrance."

"These fellas don't seem the type to cooperate with us...unsavory women," Ying Mei pointed out to which her partner nodded and took out a smoke bomb prompting Ying Mei to ready a cast iron explosive.

"Then we'll make them cooperate," Mayumi retorted as she tore off part of the fuse with her partner following suit as they took one last, subtle look over their cover before lighting up the fuses and tossing the bombs at the government agents which exploded the moment they hit the ground. Immediately, the night air was filled with agonizing wails as flesh, blood, and viscera flew in every direction and erratic, pained coughing as the smoke inhibited the agent's breathing.

"Come on," Mayumi urged as she leaped down onto the ground with Ying Mei following suit as they approached the bloody, mangled bodies with some of their chests being tore right open by the shrapnel while some had their faces torn apart into a bloody mush. However, neither one was fazed by this grizzly scene even as they saw that a Dai Lee agent who had been at ground zero of the explosion was reduced to nothing but a mutilated torso and stumps. Hearing something whizzing through the smoke, both Ying Mei and Mayumi sidestepped a volley of stone fist and fingers flying at them where they saw three agents who, while injured with one even missing an arm, still capable of fighting.

"We only need one of them!" Mayumi shouted as she ducked underneath a stone fist hurtling towards her face only to dry heave as a stone pillar jutted from the ground and struck her right in the gut sending her flying. Hitting the ground with a harsh thud which sent her crossbow skidding across the ground, Mayumi rolled to the side just as earthen restraints tried to pin her down where she flung a throwing knife at the agent after getting into a kneeling position. Cursing as he caught it with an earthen glove, she dipped her head to the side to avoid her own knife being thrown back at her and then spun around a melon shaped rock coming towards her gut.

"Right!" Ying Mei replied as she discharged several shots which were blocked by an earthen wall where several separate segments were sent hurtling toward her like projectiles from a cannon. While she was able to weave around the initial volley, she wasn't agile enough to dodge the next where she ate several hard projectiles to her gut, chest, and face. Grimacing as she felt as if her head was punched off of her shoulders which made her spit up a glob of blood, Ying Mei forced down the pain and concentrated as she saw a Dai Lee agent lifting up a boulder from the ground. As if time came to a near halt, Ying Mei fired a shot before the agent could properly fling the boulder at her causing him to scream before collapsing on the ground face first with a dart through his skull.

Widening his eyes, the other agent nevertheless regained his composure as he lifted up a boulder from the ground and made it look like he was going to throw it causing Ying Mei to get ready to dodge. However, the agent retracted the blow at the last second and instead caused a stone pillar to swiftly emerge from the ground behind Ying Mei and brutally strike her right in the spine causing the servant of the presence to scream bloody murder as she felt as if her back broke upon impact. Crumpling onto all fours, Ying Mei fired off several shots from her crossbow which the agent blocked by lifting a boulder in front of himself before flinging it at his foe who widened her eyes. The agent, however, smirked when she rolled to the side to avoid it as he clenched his fist causing the boulder to explode into dust which obscured Ying Mei's vision and made her cough uncontrollably.

Hearing something flying through the air, Ying Mei dove aside just as a volley of stone fingers penetrated the smoke where several of them grazed her side and face which shaved off decent amounts of flesh. Hissing, the servant of the presence forced down the pain as the Dai Lee agent rushed toward her before jumping into the air and landing on the ground with a loud thud sending a wave of earthen spikes towards Ying Mei. This time, she was prepared as she avoided the attack by sidestepping it and deftly chucking a throwing knife at him which nailed him right in the chest causing him to yelp before collapsing on his back unable to move. In turn, however, Ying Mei received a stone hand that had all five fingers extended to her forearm which she used to block what could have been a killing blow. Howling in pain as the rock shaped appendage deeply lodged itself into her forearm and bored right through the bone causing streams of blood to pour down her limb, Ying Mei tightly ground her teeth as Mayumi dipped around an earthen pillar before slicing the throat of a Dai Lee agent. Hacking, the agent futilely grasped his throat as he tried to get some air, any air, into his system, but it was for naught as he crumpled to the ground drowning in his own blood before going still.

"That looks bad," Mayumi concernedly said when she caught a glimpse of the stone hand deeply lodged into her friend's forearm causing Ying Mei to say "The pain's even worse." before walking over to the agent she subdued.

"We'll let you live if you open the entrance to your hideout," Ying Mei offered while stomping on his chest and having a throwing knife at the ready while Mayumi pointed her crossbow at his skull.

"Hah, you think I'm scared? You won't kill me since you need an earthbender to expose-" the agent began to say only to yowl as Mayumi punt kicked him across the face causing blood to fly from his mouth and splatter onto the ground. While the Dai Lee agent was in a daze, Mayumi patted him down and retrieved some documents from his robes causing the government agent to widen his eyes and reach out for the documents only for Ying Mei to stomp on his wrist.

"Ooh, this document from Long Feng says that you'll be able to get an even fancier house in the Upper Ring for your exemplary service," Mayumi mockingly read the contents of the scroll before taking out another one and after looking over what it said, broke out into a grin.

"And this one says that not only will you able to sit next to the Earth King's pet bear the next time there's a party, but you'll also get five hundred gold coins. All you need to do to get all these gifts is for the Earth King to sign off on them. However, I'm guessing that Long Feng had business to attend to and he was supposed to bring these documents to the Earth King later to make them official, right?" Mayumi inquired with a cold, predatory grin causing the agent to widen his eyes before looking away causing Mayumi to triumphantly smile and slightly tore both of the documents.

"Judging by the looks of these papers, you got them recently and on account of you and your friends being...well...Dai Lee, you figured that no one was going to mess with you so you thought it was safe to keep these on you," Mayumi ruthlessly continued as she tore the documents even more causing the Dai Lee agent to desperately yell "Stop, I'll open the entrance!" causing Ying Mei to step off of his chest.

"Don't try nothing funny," Ying Mei growled as she stepped off of him where Mayumi let the documents drop to the ground and wrapped one arm around the agent's neck while the other pressed the tip of her knife against the back of his neck. Cringing when he felt the cold steel pressing against his flesh, the Dai Lee agent exposed the entrance to the hideout causing Mayumi to toss him to the ground and stomp on his face making him yowl before falling unconscious. Nodding, Ying Mei looked at the stone hand embedded in her forearm and wondered how she was going to get it out before shaking her head.

"I'll just deal with the pain for now," Ying Mei grumbled as she could still use her throwing knives at the very least and began to walk toward the entrance with Mayumi in tow just as her partner suddenly asked her something.

"Are you rescuing this girl because-"

"No, Mayumi. I ain't doing this just because she gave me a generous tip," Ying Mei interrupted causing her partner to nod and ready her weapons with Ying Mei following suit as they descended into the base and saw it was near pitch black with the only light being glowing green crystals.

"Find Jin's chi and let's get out of here," Mayumi stated causing Ying Mei to nod as suddenly, the apparition appeared before them and took the shape of her servant's shadow causing Mayumi to raise a brow.

"Lake Laogai reeks of dread, despair, and hopelessness which is more than enough energy for me to maintain my astral form indefinitely," the shade informed Mayumi who could only wordlessly nod as Ying Mei led them down a corridor before grinding to a halt as a trio of Dai Lee agents passed by them. Just in case, both Ying Mei and Mayumi quietly readied their knives, but to their relief the secret police didn't see them where, after making sure they were out of sight, continued on their way. After what seemed like an eternity navigating the maze and staying out of sight of Dai Lee agents, Ying Mei came to a stop at a hallway with a door across from it with two agents standing by it.

"Jin's in there, but we have to act fast if we don't want to raise the alarm," Ying Mei murmured causing Mayumi to quickly peek out of cover, duck back into it, and rub her chin before looking up at her friend.

"I'll take the one on the right, you take the one on the left," Mayumi whispered while readying her crossbow causing Ying Mei to nod as Mayumi silently counted to three before she and her partner emerged from cover. Before they could react, one of them was hit right between the eyes with a razor sharp dart while the other yowled as a knife lodged itself right into his face causing both agents to spasm wildly before slumping to the ground.

"Okay, be ready for anything," Ying Mei advised causing her partner to nod as Ying Mei put a hand on the door, sucked in a breathe, and pushed it open where she and Mayumi found Jin chained to the wall with her chest, wrists, and ankles restrained. Jolting, Jin confusedly looked between Ying Mei and Mayumi with Ying Mei holding up a hand while Mayumi dragged the corpses into the room causing Jin to widen her eyes.

"They don't know where we are, but I don't expect that to last for long," Mayumi stated while looking at the door with her crossbow primed to fire at a moment's notice causing Ying Mei to nod and walk over to Jin.

"Wh-what are you doing here and how did-"

"Darling, now ain't the time for questions. All you need to know right now is that we're trying to bust you out of here," Ying Mei lightly cut off Jin as plunged her hunting knife into the lock mechanism of Jin's handcuffs and twisted causing the restraints to fall to the ground where the noble woman rubbed her wrists.

"Okay, but I expect an explanation afterwards," Jin replied to which Ying Mei nodded as she lodged her hunting knife into the lock mechanism of Jin's ankle cuffs and twisted causing the binds to fall off of her.

"Of course," Ying Mei responded as she got off the last of Jin's restraints causing the noblewoman to breathe a sigh of relief just as they heard multiple footsteps approaching the room causing Mayumi to ground her teeth.

"How are we getting out of here?" Jin nervously asked causing Ying Mei to say nothing in response as she glanced at Mayumi, motioned at one of her bombs, and made a pushing gesture at the door. Nodding, Mayumi tore off part of the fuse of one of her bombs and positioned herself next to the door while Ying Mei stood in front of it like a predator on the hunt. As soon as the shadows on the outside were almost at the door, Mayumi lit the fuse just as the agents tried to push the door open where she quickly tossed the explosive through the gap while Ying Mei lunged forward and slammed the door shut with her forearm. The surprised agents didn't even get a chance to scream as the explosion made the walls shake, dust to fall down to the ground, and a distinct, sickening squelch of flesh being blown apart to echo throughout the hallways. While Jin widened her eyes, Ying Mei and Mayumi took it in stride as the latter, concluding that they wouldn't get to the entrance in time, opted for a different means of escape.

"Ready to go for a swim?" Mayumi inquired causing Ying Mei to nod while Jin cried out "You guys are crazy!", but could do little other than just go along with their plan as Mayumi and Ying Mei set up their explosives near the wall.

"Wait, I-I can't swim!" Jin shrieked as Ying Mei dragged her out of her cell and stood to one side of it just as the explosives went off in a brilliant display of debris and whitish, red flames causing a copious amount of water to flood into the base where they waited until the room was completely flooded. With nothing pushing against them now, the trio re-entered the cell and began to slowly swim up to the surface with Ying Mei having to carry Jin as, after what seemed like an eternity, they finally came up for air.

"Everyone okay? We need to go to the Crystal Catacombs and I know how to get there from here," Ying Mei stated after getting oxygen back into her system causing Mayumi to nod and release a long groan while Jin coughed up some water and sputtered as they she felt Ying Mei dragging her toward the shore.

"The Crystal Catacombs? Why?" Jin asked as they got onto dry land and after taking a moment to gather themselves, got back to their feet where Mayumi and Jin followed Ying Mei to wherever she was leading them.

"My ship is there," Ying Mei replied causing the noblewoman to widen her eyes while Mayumi simply snorted as Ying Mei led them to the drainage system and after letting the guards on the wall pass by them, opened the grate as quietly as possible.

"Come on," Ying Mei beckoned as she got into it and slowly began inching her way forward with Mayumi following suit causing Jin to scrunch her brow and pinch her nose due to the bad smell.

"Do I really-"

"Yes!" Mayumi interrupted Jin as she grabbed the noblewoman's wrist and yanked her into the storm drain where she let Jin pass by her before closing the grate.

"We're going to make a turn up here," Ying Mei said as she rounded the corner and entered a separate system where Ying Mei slid down the pipes like a slide with her companions in tow where splashed down in what seemed to be a river. Coughing and sputtering yet again, Jin hacked up some water that got into her mouth before Ying Mei pulled her onto solid ground causing the noblewoman to have to take a moment to catch her breathe before looking up. Widening her eyes, Jin was mesmerized by the beauty of the caverns illuminated by the glowing crystals and the abandoned, ancient houses of Old Ba Sing Se.

"Okay, we're here. Give me a moment," Ying Mei requested as the phantom showed itself and began to systematically break down the stone hand embedded in her servant's forearm in order to make yanking it out easier.

"Both of you should take pride in your accomplishment; taking out Dai Lee agents is no small feat," the apparition complimented both Ying Mei and Mayumi before swiftly yanking out the appendage making Ying Mei fall scream and fall to her knees. Releasing a heavy breathe, Ying Mei felt the phantom gently pull her to her feet and then heal her grievous injury with a white, glowing hand causing Ying Mei to thank her mistress. Nodding, the projection focused on healing her servant just as the walls started shaking violently causing Mayumi to curse and ready her crossbow while Jin, despite not being a fighter, got into a stance she hoped was similar to what the earthbending soldiers used.

"Shit, the Dai Lee found us!?" Mayumi shouted to which the projection shook her head making the raider raise a brow while Jin tilted her head.

"No, something more benevolent did," the projection answered causing Mayumi to huff as before she could demand the spirit to be less cryptic, sections of the wall suddenly burst apart in a haze of pebbles and dust forcing the raider and Jin back. Coughing, the raider swatted away the dust cloud and saw several large, quadrupedal beasts with grayed out eyes, a brown coat, and a white, blackish stripe going down its back.

"Badger moles?" Mayumi asked with a raised brow as she lowered her weapon while Jin dropped out of her sloppy stance as one of the beasts slammed its paws on the ground causing a large section of the earthen wall to part revealing a sailboat which seemed to be cobbled together from aluminum and copper.

"Yeah, I ran into them during my first visit here and turns out, not even the Dai Lee want to mess with them. Because of that, they steered clear of this part of the Crystal Catacombs which meant I was able to build this thing in peace," Ying Mei explained as she leaped onto the ship and checked to make sure everything was in working order causing Mayumi to purse her lips.

"How did you even become friends with these things?" Jin asked as she reluctantly approached the ship next to the gigantic beasts which was something Mayumi was curious about as well where they saw Ying Mei flush red.

"They...uh...like music so I...sang for them," Ying Mei grumbled while looking off to the side causing Mayumi to guffaw while Jin, despite the situation, chuckled as Ying Mei sung a shanty which caused one of the badger moles to gently earthbend the vessel into the water.

"You? Sing?" Mayumi repeated with an amused chuckle causing Ying Mei to grumble and retort with "I realize how ridiculous it sounds!" as she leaped off of the ship and approached Jin where she rubbed the back of her head.

"Darling, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this mess," Ying Mei apologized while bowing to the noblewoman who blankly stared at Ying Mei for what seemed like an eternity before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm not going to say it's okay, but I will say that I'm grateful that you two freed me from that jail. Since I can't go back home...I guess I have to go with you," Jin reluctantly replied causing Ying Mei to nod slowly just as Jin bent a glove of hardened sand around one of her hands and gently, but firmly clasped Ying Mei's shoulder.

"Besides, you still owe me an explanation," Jin remarked while tightening her grip on Ying Mei's shoulder ever so slightly making Ying Mei laugh softly and say "Yeah, I do." before motioning at the ship.

"Ooh, I like her," Mayumi remarked as Ying Mei raised a brow and asked "You're coming with us?" to which Mayumi nodded and leaned against the railing.

"I don't exactly have a home to go back to considering what we just did and besides, I was getting sick of Ba Sing Se anyway," Mayumi playfully remarked causing Ying Mei to smile and bow to her friend who returned the gesture as her partner and Jin got onto the ship. Raising the anchor, the vessel slowly floated downstream where Mayumi discreetly listened to the presence and Ying Mei's conversation about going to the Fire Nation to find someone called Himiko and...a world of light? Whatever her friend had gotten herself into, the raider hoped it was worth it.

* * *

Forcing a smile on her face for the umpteenth time, Yue nodded mindlessly as her father, Master Pakku, and the chief to be, Hahn, conversed with Chin IV and caught the gaze of his wife sitting silently like an obedient doll. Yue couldn't help but compare her situation to her own; both were raised to be the ideal women, both really had no say in political matters, and both expected to spend the rest of their days doing womanly duties. The princess loved her father and knew she had a bit more wiggle room in regards to tradition, but she still had no say in the matter of her...betrothed. Speaking of which, she saw Hahn hanging off her father's every words like clingy turtle sea pup which made the princess scoff.

" _He's probably trying to remember Father's manner of speaking so he can mimic it when he's chief,"_ Yue derisively thought as, while she was loathe to entertain it, she thought that maybe, just maybe, someone might make an attempt on her father's life which would subsequently put him on the throne.

" _No, he's an arrogant, delusional fool, but he wouldn't go that far...I hope,"_ Yue mused uncertainly and was shaken out of her stupor when she heard Chin IV shout "Your son in law and my boy will do great things do great things together like crush the Fire Nation should we fail to do that in our lifetime!" with a mighty boom making the princess scowl slightly.

"Indeed, but shouldn't we keep diplomacy on the table? After all, much blood has been shed on both sides," Arnook sagely pointed out causing Chin IV to frown ever so slightly before taking a sip from his tea cup and solemnly looking down at the liquid.

"I realize that, but the Fire Nation hasn't exactly shown that they are willing to try and work things out with us," Chin IV pointed out causing most of his entourage to vehemently nod in agreement which was a point Arnook agreed with, albeit reluctantly.

"Don't worry, Chief. Our people's have held the upper hand the entire war and by summer's end, we'll have crushed whatever petty resistance they have left with extreme prejudice. When that happens, I'm sure they'll be willing to listen to whatever it is you want to say," General Fong kindly assured the chieftain who sighed softly and said "Yes...thank you, General Fong."

"You say we'll win by summer's end, but Sozin's Comet is still coming which means the Fire Nation might try something...desperate to push us back," Pakku interjected causing General Fong and General How to smirk smugly making the wizened, world weary master raise a brow while Chin IV laughed softly and stroked his beard.

"Don't worry, Master Pakku. We found a way to make Sozin's Comet a non-factor because our astronomers mapped out its most likely route. When it comes, we'll shoot it out of the sky which will crush the Fire Nation's morale and make them easy pickings," General How boasted causing General Fong to bristle with anticipation of the fated day while Pakku glanced at Arnook who nodded slowly with a downcast expression.

"When we win the war, what will happen afterwards?" Arnook inquired causing Chin IV to pour himself another cup of tea, blow away the steam, and take a drink from it before staring at the chieftain dead in the eye.

"Well, considering the Fire Nation made the airbenders extinct, did the same to the waterbenders in the South Pole before you took them over for their protection, and continue to uselessly try and gain a foothold on our land after we forced them out, I was considering...doing to the firebenders what they did to the airbenders," Chin IV hesitantly replied causing Yue to cover her mouth, Arnook to let out a small gasp, Hahn to mutter "Sounds good to me.", and Pakku to glare daggers at the Earth Sovereignty's ruler.

"The firebenders who enacted the Air Nomad Genocide are long dead by now so how do you intend to carry out your plan? Punish their descendants who had no part in it!?" Pakku spat making Chin IV narrow his eyes at the waterbending master while General Fong interjected with "You may be willing to let this slide, but we will avenge our fallen!" Before this could turn into a full blown shouting match, Arnook shouted "Enough, both of you!" causing Pakku to snort while General Fong grunted, but nevertheless both settled down.

"Sorry Chin, but I too must object to that plan. It will only ensure that we'll have another bloody war after we win this one," Arnook calmly, but firmly told the Earth Sovereignty's ruler who shook his head while General Fong murmured "Then we'll just crush the Fire Nation again like we're doing now." earning him a disapproving glance from Pakku.

"Yet the point still stands that we can't leave the Fire Nation to their own devices. The last time we did that they wiped out the Air Nomads during our joint, preemptive strike. That is why I propose the Imperium leave a standing force in every town, city, and village in the Fire Nation so if there are any schemes to initiate another war, we can end it before it happens," Chin IV proclaimed causing Arnook to sigh softly as the thought of leaving angry Earth Imperium soldiers with an equally angry Fire Nation citizenry was a recipe for disaster.

"The Water Confederacy will also need to patrol their waters in order to ensure that whatever business that happens at every dock, pier, and harbor isn't meant to incite war," Chin IV went on before releasing a breathe causing Arnook to grunt as his people weren't conquerors by nature, but the ongoing war certainly put that principle to the test.

"These proposed courses of action will only ensure the very thing we're trying to avoid. I agree the Fire Nation shouldn't go unpunished, but we must punish those for the crimes they committed, not ones they are loosely connected to," Arnook countered causing Yue to internally breathe a sigh of relief that someone wasn't going for the vengeful option in the aftermath which was a sentiment shared by General Sung.

"I don't agree, but should you prove to be right I'll reconsider my opinion on the matter," the Earth Imperium's ruler conceded causing Yue to want to wipe away the nervous bead of sweat on her brow, but kept herself still. Suddenly, a messenger entered the room and cautiously approached Chin IV where he cordially bowed to the monarch before handing him a scroll causing the Earth Sovereignty's ruler to politely nod and dismiss the servant who took his leave. Opening the scroll, Chin IV read its contents and widened his eyes before bursting out into a hearty, triumphant laughter.

"Forgive me, but it seems our astronomers have came through yet again! They informed me that soon, there is to be a solar eclipse which will leave firebenders powerless for a short amount of time. With that in mind, I suggest we start drawing up invasion plans to strike at the heart of the Fire Nation!" Chin IV proclaimed as Arnook read the scroll and was taken aback as yes, the scroll did indeed say that there was going to be a solar eclipse.

"I agree, this is an opportune moment to end the war in one swift, precise strike and finally end a century of bloodshed for both sides," Arnook replied causing General Fong to quietly mutter "You honestly care about those savages in the Fire Nation?" to which Pakku glowered at the career military man who returned his glare in kind.

"Indeed, no more families will be torn apart and our soldiers can go home," Chin IV said as he noticed Arnook's solemn expression causing the monarch to ask "Is something wrong?" to which the chieftain nodded.

"I just remembered some of my people have defected and sought sanctuary in the Fire Nation. During the invasion, we'll most likely encounter them and have to..." Arnook trailed off causing Chin IV to nod and added "I understand; we've had defectors ourselves and unfortunately, we've had to kill them. It's not easy to do, even if they're enemies."

"Thank you for your...words, Chin. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Arnook inquired causing Chin IV to shake his head as he stood up followed shortly by General Fong, General How, General Sung, and his wife where he wiped his lips with a napkin.

"I'd rather we'd focus on coming up with a plan for the solar eclipse if you don't mind," Chin IV told Arnook who nodded and asked one of the servants to escort the monarch and his associates to the war room.

"Of course, I'll see you in the war room in a moment," Arnook replied causing his partner to nod as he along with his entourage followed the servant out of the meeting hall causing Yue to let out a long winded breathe while Pakku scowled.

"I realize we're allies, but that doesn't mean we should overlook their flaws. I received reports from the front lines that Fong's Freedom Fighters flooded the last Fire Nation colony in the Earth Sovereignty some time back. They killed everyone who lived there, Fire Nation or not," Pakku bluntly stated causing Yue to widen her eyes and unconsciously took a step back while Arnook nodded and sighed heavily.

"I know of these Freedom Fighters, but what would you have us do? We can't take up arms against our allies especially when we're so close to ending things," Arnook responded causing Pakku to snort and reply with "We can't do nothing about it either. What should happen if the Freedom Fighters consider some of our men necessary collateral damage?" causing the chieftain to narrow his eyes.

"Then I will speak to Chin personally and get it resolved," Arnook replied causing Pakku to snort, but otherwise say nothing before departing leaving Arnook, Hahn, and Yue alone in the meeting hall to process what had transpired.

"Hahn, I hope this experience has been enlightening for you. As you have seen, sometimes meetings with allies can get strained which requires a cool head to keep things on track," Arnook explained to his future son in law causing Hahn to grin arrogantly and say "Of course, Chief. I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the future."

"Good, I expect no less from you. Now if you'll both excuse me, I have other business to attend to," Arnook went on causing Yue to wish him well while Hahn nodded with the same cocky smile on his face as the chieftain took his leave making the princess groan internally as she was stuck with her fiance.

" _Well...if I'm going to be stuck with him for the rest of my life, I may as well try to get to know him better,"_ Yue reluctantly thought as while he was certainly easy on the eyes, his personality left a lot to be desired to which she hoped that maybe, just maybe, bonding _might_ reveal a kinder, compassionate soul underneath.

"So...did you want to go on a boat ride together-"

"Oh man, did you see the way Chin handled business? I mean, I'll always be loyal to your father, but if I had been born an Earth Imperium citizen, you wouldn't see me complaining!" Hahn obnoxiously interrupted causing Yue to bite her lip, force a smile on her face, and reply with "Yes, he certainly has a...commanding presence."

"I know, and I also like the way General Fong thinks. We're so close to winning and when we do, we have to make the Fire Nation pays for what they did," Hahn loudly went on causing Yue to frown ever so slightly before it disappeared behind the same genial mask she always wore. In that moment, she was tempted to say "How does committing genocide on firebenders make us different from our enemies?", but opted for a different response.

"I share my father's stance that while the Fire Nation does deserve punishment, we have to make sure the punishment fits the crime to avoid another war in the future," Yue replied calmly to which Hahn frowned and put a hand on her shoulder where he said "You're a woman so I can forgive you for not knowing too much on this, but next time let the people who know what they're talking about handle things." Upon hearing this, Yue's self control nearly evaporated and was about to let loose a whole slew of curses at her unwanted fiance, but somehow managed to keep her cool and forced a smile on her face.

"Yes...of course," Yue seethed all with a fake smile on her face causing Hahn to laugh heartily and respond with "Good, now did you want to come with my buddies and I? We're going to hunt some tiger seals!" all while flexing his non existent muscles. Yue had to resist the great, overwhelming urge to groan and roll her eyes as the last thing she wanted to do was see some blowhards kill some animals (though she conceded that they always brought back a lot of meat without overhunting).

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to go for a boat ride through the capital," Yue replied causing Hahn to raise a brow, but just shrugged and "Suit yourself." before leaving the room causing the princess to sigh heavily.

"Out of all the suitors you could have chosen, you had to pick one that one. Thanks, Father," Yue silently quipped as she regained her composure and exited the room and then the building where she maneuvered her way through the busy streets. After what seemed like an eternity, she came to a stop at back at the palace and walked over to the side where one of the men standing near a rowboat perked up.

"Afternoon, Princess. Do you want a ride?" the paddler asked causing Yue to nod to which the man got the boat in the water and steadied it before indicating for her to get on. Getting on the boat, Yue let out a quiet sigh of relief as she finally had some time to herself.

"Alright, here we go," the driver stated as he slowly began paddling through the waterways where Yue genially greeted any of the citizenry she made eye contact with while admiring the architecture adorning the buildings in the capital. As they exited the capital, however, the princess frowned when she saw the ever expanding military base guarding said capital which bore resemblance to the supposedly impenetrable walls of Ba Sing Se. From there, she could also see large groups of sentries standing at the top of the walls with their blasting jelly artillery pieces which looked like a scaled up version of the repeating crossbow or modified catapults. In addition, she saw large, metallic ships as far as the eye could see either under meticulous, careful construction or casting away making her look over her shoulder at the paddler.

"Are these fortifications...necessary?" Yue ventured causing the driver to nod without any hesitation and reply with "The Fire Nation doesn't let up so neither are we." causing Yue to purse her lips and nod.

" _Can't argue with that I suppose,"_ Yue thought as she looked around and saw a compound with many guards standing vigil around it causing the sentries to cordially nod at the princess who returned the gesture.

"What are they building over there?" Yue inquired causing the paddler to shrug as he too cast a glance at the compound and like the princess, received a polite nod of acknowledgment from the guards causing the paddler to awkwardly return the gesture.

"I don't know, Princess, but I always see the best shamans and engineers we have from the North and South Pole going in there. Whatever they're building, it's probably going to be...devastating," the paddler responded causing Yue to nod slowly just as she felt as if her head was split in two. Curling up in pain, Yue tightly clutched her head and saw a picture of devastated Fire Nation lying in ruin with no one, not even plants and animals, left. What's more, she saw the Earth Imperium flag proudly planted at what used to be the Royal Palace causing her to raise a brow only to shout and fall onto all fours as she then saw the Water Confederacy and the Earth Imperium at war with each other. What made her widen her eyes though is when she saw both sides using not only whatever technological marvel they could churn out, but the whatever spirits they could find as attack animals as well. However, the blood drained from her face when she saw both sides using weapons powered by spirit energy which tore apart even battleships like paper and obliterated entire legions of soldiers into nothing, not even ash.

"Princess, Princess, are you okay!?" the paddler shouted while gently shaking her shoulder causing Yue to suddenly feel the splitting pain in her head fade away causing her to turn to the paddler and nod slowly.

"I-I'm fine, could you take me to the spirit oasis, please? I think I just need a change of scenery is all," Yue stated causing the paddler to raise a brow, but complied nonetheless while the princess, externally, kept her facade of being calm as if nothing was wrong, but internally was a bundle of nerves.

" _This is how the war is going to end!? No, no it can't be!"_ Yue internally screamed as she wished the paddler would make haste and as if reading her mind, he did making the princess relax a little as they came to a stop at the stairway to the spirit oasis.

"Here we are and if you start feeling dizzy, don't hesitate to ask for help," the paddler stated causing Yue to nod as she sped walked up the stairs and greeted the guards before waltzing in where, to her relief, no one was there.

"I-I saw the visions! Are you telling me this is what's going to happen when the war ends!? Just...just more death and destruction!?" Yue yelled at the koi fish swimming around each other in the pond causing the two koi fish to stop what they were doing and swim as close as possible to the princess where their eyes glowed white.

" _This is the most likely outcome out of all others, yes. The Water Confederacy and the Earth Imperium will surround the Fire Nation in the final days of the war and in spite of this, the Fire Lord will refuse any and all final attempts of diplomacy. This, as you have seen, leads to the Fire Nation's complete destruction by the Earth Imperium's hand. There will be some displaced survivors of course, but they will be too few in number to revive what once was. The Fire Nation, effectively, will cease to exist,"_ Tui and La telepathically explained in unison causing Yue to cover her mouth as the thought that no, even someone like Azulon couldn't be that stubborn.

" _A year of peace will follow which will then be broken due to the Water Confederacy taking in refugees from the Fire Nation. Chin t_ _he Peacekeeper will demand your father turn them over to the Earth Sovereignty for execution, but he refuses which sparks another war. This war will be even more devastating than the one being waged right now due in part to not only spirits being forced into battle and vast technological leaps, but also because your people don't want to share the Fire Nation's fate. When it ends, both nations will be destroyed leaving nothing but a handful of souls to pick up whatever remains,"_ Tui and La went on causing Yue to fight back tears as hearing something so awful and not being able to do anything about it was infuriating to say the least.

"Th-that's terrible!" was all the princess could get out to which Tui and La nodded simultaneously and as best they could in their current forms.

" _Indeed, but while it's the most likely outcome, it can be averted if the proper actions are taken. That is why you must go to the South Pole, Princess. The Avatar is alive, frozen underneath the ocean. You must awaken him and help him master the four elements before all is lost,"_ Tui and La urged causing Yue to breathlessly say "The Avatar is alive?" before shaking her head.

"Why me? I'm just-"

" _Brave Amaruq was nothing but a simple housewife before she became the Avatar. You too can be more than what fate has destined for you if you will it,"_ Tui and La encouraged causing Yue to think back to how Tui saved her when she was a baby and her desire to do right by her people. Was doing what the spirits asked a greater duty than continuing the bloodline of her family? Releasing a breathe, the princess concluded that continuing the bloodline wouldn't matter if she had no people in the aftermath.

"How would I even get out of the capital and between the Fire Nation and the Earth Imperium, who would we even stop first?" Yue asked causing Tui and La to respond with _"We have allies who can assist us in helping prepare you for your departure and once the Avatar is awakened, you must keep him away from the Earth Imperium as they will seek to use him as a weapon. As for whom you stop first, I believe your father can be persuaded to take action against the Earth Imperium."_

"Is it okay to bring the Avatar back here to learn waterbending?" the princess inquired causing spirits to slowly nod and say _"That seems to be the only course of action though it does pose the risk of him being discovered by Chin the Peacekeeper._

"I'm sure I can convince Father to keep the Avatar a secret once he's here," the princess countered causing the spirits to nod and say _"Of that we have no doubt, but we have seen glimpses of what the current Avatar is like and subtlety is not his strong suit. Once his waterbending training is complete, go to Omashu and seek King Bumi for his earthbending training. If that proves to be too risky, find some badger moles and have the Avatar study their movements as they can at least give him an intermediate understanding of that element."_

"Who do we look for as a teacher once we're in the Fire Nation?" the princess questioned causing the spirits to momentarily go silent before replying with _"There is someone called Jeong Jeong in the Earth Imperium who can provide tutelage, but if you must go there, find the one called General Iroh."_ causing Yue to note their hesitation.

"You guys don't want me to go the Fire Nation?" the princess stated causing the spirits to nod and say _"Before the Water Confederacy took over the South Pole, many waterbenders existed in a conglomeration of people called the Southern Water Tribe. However, they were driven to extinction because the Fire Nation saw them as a threat and to this day, any and all waterbenders in the Fire Nation are to be detained and executed."_

"I see why you don't want me to go there, but what about the solar eclipse-"

" _The invasion on the day of the solar eclipse will end the war, but there will be enough pockets of resistance to delay the mass extinction scenario for a short while. That is why Sozin's Comet must remain in the field of play to give whatever remains of the Fire Nation's military a fighting chance,"_ the spirits cut off the princess who slowly nodded with a chill going down her spine as she remembered the trip her family took to one of the Air Temples...and wished she could forget what she saw.

"But why? I thought you hated the Fire Nation for what they did to the waterbenders-"

" _I despise those in the Fire Nation who kidnapped, imprisoned, and killed my children in the Southern Water Tribe. Were they to show themselves to me, I would very much enjoy drowning them, crushing their bodies against the icy shores, and casting them into a dark, watery abyss, but those we need help from are not them,"_ Tui interrupted the princess with La staying silent causing Yue to unconsciously back away from the moon spirit which the moon spirit noticed, but ignored.

"Okay, I'll...go get ready, I suppose," Yue replied to which the spirits nodded and went back to swimming around each other, but not before telling the princess that they would send for her when the preparations were in order. Nodding, the princess bowed to Tui and La before exiting the spirit oasis while heading to the palace to enjoy a cup of tea and a long, hot bath to temporarily forget that the fate of the world was now hanging by a thread, and a loose one at that.


End file.
